Essential Sensors for Smart Farms

Soil Sensors

Soil Moisture - Capacitive or TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry)

• Accuracy: ±2-3%
• Depth: 10-60cm (multiple sensors per profile)
• Use: Irrigation triggering, drainage monitoring

Soil Temperature - Thermocouples or NTC

• Range: -40°C to +80°C
• Use: Planting timing, germination prediction

Electrical Conductivity (EC) - Measures salinity

• Use: Fertilization monitoring, irrigation water quality

Soil pH - Electrochemical sensors

• Accuracy: ±0.1 pH
• Use: Amendment adjustment, crop selection

Atmospheric Sensors

Complete Weather Station:

• Air temperature and humidity
• Wind (speed and direction)
• Precipitation (rain gauge)
• Solar radiation (pyranometer)
• Atmospheric pressure

Specialized Sensors:

• Leaf wetness (fungal disease prediction)
• Evapotranspiration (water requirement calculation)

Cutting-Edge Technologies

NDVI and Multispectral Sensors

NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) measures plant health through light reflectance:

How It Works:

• Healthy plants absorb red light and reflect infrared
• NDVI = (NIR - Red) / (NIR + Red)
• Values: -1 to +1 (>0.6 = dense healthy vegetation)

Applications:

• Early plant stress detection
• Field variability mapping
• Yield estimation

Thermal Cameras

Identify water stress before visible symptoms:

• Stressed plants have higher leaf temperature
• Resolution: 0.1°C difference detectable
• Mounting: Drones or fixed poles

Sap Flow Sensors

Directly measure plant water consumption:

• Heat balance method for fruit trees
• Precise data for precision irrigation
• Higher cost, used in high-value crops

How Field Sensors Communicate

Wireless Protocols for Agriculture

LoRaWAN - The favorite for agriculture

• Range: 2-15km in open field
• Consumption: Ultra-low power (years on battery)
• Cost: Affordable infrastructure
• Limitation: Limited bandwidth (for sensor data, not video)

NB-IoT - Cellular network for IoT

• Coverage: Where mobile signal exists
• Advantage: No own infrastructure needed
• Cost: Monthly subscription per device

Sigfox - Low-power alternative

• Similar performance to LoRa
• Model: Third-party operated infrastructure

WiFi - For covered areas

• Limited range: 50-100m
• Use: Greenhouses, warehouses, near buildings

Typical Architecture

Field Sensor → LoRa Gateway → Internet → Cloud Platform → Dashboard/Alert
     ↓              ↓
  Battery      Solar + 4G
  (2-5 years)  (total autonomy)

Data-Driven Irrigation Automation

System Components

Decision Sensors:

• Soil moisture at multiple depths
• Evapotranspiration (ET0)
• Weather forecast (API integration)

Actuators:

• 24VAC or latch electrovalves (low power)
• Variable frequency drive pumps
• Fertilizer injectors (fertigation)

Controller:

• Local processing (edge computing)
• Cloud connectivity
• Offline backup

Irrigation Algorithms

Threshold-based:

• Simple: Start when moisture < 30%, stop at 70%
• Use: Extensive crops

ET-based:

• Water balance calculation based on evapotranspiration
• Crop-specific cultural coefficient (Kc)
• Superior precision

Machine Learning:

• Model trained on historical data
• Need prediction based on patterns
• Continuous optimization

From Data to Decisions

Platform Architecture

Data Ingestion:

• API for sensor connection
• Protocols: MQTT, HTTP, CoAP
• Rate: From minutes to hours, configurable

Storage:

• Time-series database (InfluxDB, TimescaleDB)
• Retention: Months-years of historical data
• Automatic aggregations for performance

Processing:

• Real-time alerting (threshold breach)
• Agronomic calculations (GDD, ET, water deficit)
• Predictive models

Dashboard and Visualization

Essential Elements:

• Field map with sensor overlay
• Time-series graphs for parameters
• Zone/period comparison
• Report export

Alerting:

• Mobile push notifications
• Email/SMS for critical alerts
• Configurable escalation

Equipment Integration

• GPS-enabled tractors (variable rate application)
• Drones for mapping
• Farm management software (FMIS)

Real Implementations with Measurable Results

Vineyard - 50 hectares

Challenge: Inefficient irrigation, excessive water consumption, inconsistent grape quality.

Implemented Solution:

• 120 soil moisture sensors (2-3/ha)
• 3 complete weather stations
• Automated irrigation system on 8 zones
• Dashboard with water stress prediction

Results (Season 1):

• -35% water consumption
• +12% grape sugar content
• Improved harvest uniformity
• ROI: 14 months

Vegetable Greenhouse - 2 hectares

Challenge: Manual climate control, high energy costs, disease losses.

Solution:

• Temperature/humidity sensors every 50m²
• CO₂ monitoring
• Automated ventilation and heating
• Leaf wetness alerting (fungal risk)

Results:

• -25% energy cost
• -40% fungal disease losses
• +18% production/m²

Implementation Guide

Phase 1: Assessment and Planning

Current Situation Analysis:

• What crops and what area?
• Water sources and existing irrigation system?
• Available connectivity?
• Main problems to solve?

Objective Definition:

• Reduce water consumption by X%
• Increase production
• Early disease/stress detection

Phase 2: System Design

Sensor Selection:

• Parameters to monitor
• Sensor density per hectare
• Power requirements

Communications Infrastructure:

• Number and positioning of gateways
• Connectivity backup
• Data security

Phase 3: Installation and Calibration

Installation Best Practices:

• Soil sensors: Install at season start (wet soil)
• Representative positioning (avoid edges, atypical zones)
• Mechanical protection (animals, machinery)

Calibration:

• Verification with manual measurements
• Coefficient adjustment
• Validation over 2-4 weeks

Investment and Financing Options

Typical Costs

Hardware per Hectare:

• Soil sensors (2-3/ha): €150-400
• Weather station (1 per 20-50ha): €500-2000
• LoRa Gateway (1 per 5km²): €300-800
• Installation: €100-200/ha

Software and Connectivity:

• Cloud platform: €5-15/ha/year
• Cellular connectivity: €3-10/device/month

Typical Total Investment:

• Small farm (10ha): €3,000-6,000
• Medium farm (100ha): €15,000-30,000
• Large farm (500ha+): €50,000-100,000

Available Financing

European Funds:

• CAP programs
• Digital agriculture modernization funds
• Research and innovation grants

Business Models:

• PPP (Public-Private Partnership)
• Equipment leasing
• As-a-Service (OpEx vs CapEx)

Operational Leasing:

• No large initial investment
• Predictable monthly payment

The Future of Farms is Digital

IoT sensors are no longer experimental technology - they're proven tools that give competitive advantage to farmers who adopt them.

Demonstrated Benefits

• Resource Efficiency - Water, fertilizers, energy used optimally
• Predictability - Problem anticipation, improved planning
• Quality - More uniform and higher quality products
• Documentation - Complete traceability for certifications

Future Trends

Complete Autonomy - Agricultural robots guided by sensor data

Advanced AI/ML - Models that learn from your specific farm data

Blockchain - Traceability from seed to shelf

Biological Sensors - Biomarker detection for plant health

How Torcip Helps

Torcip develops complete solutions for smart agriculture:

• Custom Sensors - Designed for local conditions
• Robust Gateways - IP67, solar power, 4G/LoRa connectivity
• Optimized Firmware - Minimal consumption, maximum autonomy
• Integrated Platform - Dashboard, alerting, reports

Contact us for a free farm evaluation and discover IoT's potential for your agriculture.