On the Design of a Long Range WSN for Precision Irrigation

This research presents a WSN computer system model applied to precision irrigation, specifically for conditions in which sensor nodes may be located far from the coordinator. The proposed model is based on a tailored hardware and software aiming to extend both sensor nodes and WSN lifetime. The coordinator is aware of its sensor nodes' available energy and such feature enables estimating the remaining lifetime of each sensor node. The so-called Sensor nOdes' system for data acqUisition of Long range (SOUL) is the conceptual model for a sensor node hardware and software system design, concerning energy management and messages grouping, improving both sensor nodes and network lifetime. The sensor nodes were employed to monitor soil moisture and thus the SOUL computer system model was validated in field conditions. Sensor nodes lifetime was increased by 5.7 times when compared with a conventional use.