부산대학교 도서관

Deficient or excessive irrigation inhibits root growth and increases the risk of essential minerals being leached from the root zone, causing a nutritional deficiency. Irrigation scheduling can be managed based on soil water stress. The purpose of this study was to design an automatic control system for irrigation based on real-time soil water content monitoring in orchard soil which was capable of being accessed remotely via the internet. A test bench was fabricated in a soil bin. Soil water content sensors were installed in separate channels across the test bin to maintain the average water content for different circumstances. A python-based program was created to control the irrigation pump and solenoid valves using water content values from sensors via a micro-controller. Additionally, a python program was developed to transfer all the data from water content, water flow and pressure sensors to a database system to monitor the irrigation operation using a WI-FI network. The system was able to sense analog values from water content sensors, water flow and pressure sensors. The water content values after reaching 25% and 30%, the system sent signals to the irrigation pump and solenoid valves and terminated the irrigation process accordingly. Besides the system sent all the sensors values to the database system every 1-minute interval. With the proposed low-cost real-time monitoring system, it could help to increase production efficiency, use less labor, reduce water loss, and optimize water consumption.