An IoT-based soil moisture monitor

Abstract

Over the years, monitoring soil moisture levels of farmlands has been performed manually. This is often time-consuming and inefficient, necessitating a solution that is efficient in controlling and monitoring soil moisture conditions. This work therefore proposes an Internet of Things (IoT)-based soil moisture monitor that observes soil moisture level using an Arduino Uno microcontroller and a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) module to send data from the board to the user’s cell phone or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). The soil moisture monitor works by observing the water level of the soil and alerts the farmer when the predefined threshold rate of the moisture sensor goes above or below, thus indicating overwatering or underwatering. This process also involves sending data from the sensor to the cloud and then to the database server. Evaluation of the proposed soil moisture monitor using Thingspeak shows that the system is dynamic and efficient as it ensures water is not wasted. It is also cost effective as it eliminates the huge budget for hiring farm workers.