Development of a Data Acquisition System for the Long-term Monitoring of Plum (Japanese apricot) Farm Environment and Soil

Purpose: To continuously monitor soil and climatic properties, a data acquisition system (DAQ) was developed and tested in plum farms (Gyewol-ri and Haechang-ri, Suncheon, Korea). Methods: The DAQ consisted of a Raspberry-Pi processor, a modem, and an ADC board with multiple sensors (soil moisture content (SEN0193), soil temperature (DS18B20), climatic temperature and humidity (DHT22), and rainfall gauge (TR-525M)). In the laboratory, various tests were conducted to calibrate SEN0193 at different soil moistures, soil temperatures, depths, and bulk densities. For performance comparison of the SEN0193 sensor, two commercial moisture sensors (SMS-BTA and WT-1000B) were tested in the field. The collected field data in Raspberry-Pi were transmitted and stored on a web server database through a commercial communications wireless network. Results: In laboratory tests, it was found that the SEN0193 sensor voltage reading increased significantly with an increase in soil bulk density. A linear calibration equation was developed between voltage and soil moisture content depending on the farm soil bulk density. In field tests, the SEN0193 sensor showed linearity (R = 0.76 and 0.73) between output voltage and moisture content; however, the other two sensors showed no linearity, indicating that site-specific calibration is important for accurate sensing. In the long-term monitoring results, it was observed that the measured climate temperature was almost the same as website information. Soil temperature information was higher than the values measured by DS18B20 during spring and summer. However, the local rainfall measured using TR 525M was significantly different from the values on the website. Conclusion: Based on the test results obtained using the developed monitoring system, it is thought that the measurement of various parameters using one device would be helpful in monitoring plum growth. Field data from the local farm monitoring system can be coupled with website information from the weather station and used more efficiently.