Intelligent management of urban garden irrigation

The scarcity of water resources, associated with the growing need for water, is one of the most critical problems of humanity. At the same time, irregular rainfall, coupled with the occurrence of high temperatures, are strong obstacles to the preservation and growth of plants, causing high rates of water deficiency. Recently, several systems of soil monitoring and irrigation control have been developed with the aim of improving water use efficiency. This study describes a system (iRain), developed by the authors, which aims to ensure autonomous and efficient irrigation in urban gardens. It consists of a net of sensors and actuators with Zigbee communication and control software for storage and availability of monitoring data on a web portal in real time. In manual mode, the irrigation management is the responsibility of the irrigation manager in order to control the system from the portal. In automatic mode, the system prevents watering if there is a forecast of precipitation (up to 3 days) and if the humidity of the soil has not fallen below a critical value. In this mode the decision is made at the local base. The system also gives preference to irrigation at night and during periods of light wind in order to obtain more accurate and efficient irrigation. Thus, the iRain constitutes a valuable tool for promoting sustainable use of this scarce natural resource.