• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.61 no.5
• /
• pp.89-99
• /
• 2019

In this study, we estimated the spatially-distributed soil moisture at the high resolution ($10m{\times}10m$) using the satellite-based Sentinel-1A/B SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) sensor images. The Sentinel-1A/B raw data were pre-processed using the SNAP (Sentinel Application Platform) tool provided from ESA (European Space Agency), and then the pre-processed data were converted to the backscatter coefficients. The regression equations were derived based on the relationships between the TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry)-based soil moisture measurements and the converted backscatter coefficients. The TDR measurements from the 51 RDA (Rural Development Administration) monitoring sites were used to derive the regression equations. Then, the soil moisture values were estimated using the derived regression equations with the input data of Sentinel-1A/B based backscatter coefficients. Overall, the soil moisture estimates showed the linear trends compared to the TDR measurements with the high Pearson's correlations (more than 0.7). The Sentinel-1A/B based soil moisture values matched well with the TDR measurements with various land surface conditions (bare soil, crop, forest, and urban), especially for bare soil (R: 0.885~0.910 and RMSE: 3.162~4.609). However, the Mandae-ri (forest) and Taean-eup (urban) sites showed the negative correlations with the TDR measurements. These uncertainties might be due to limitations of soil surface penetration depths of SAR sensors and complicated land surface conditions (artificial constructions near the TDR site) at urban regions. These results may infer that qualities of Sentinel-1A/B based soil moisture products are dependent on land surface conditions. Although uncertainties exist, the Sentinel-1A/B based high-resolution soil moisture products could be useful in various areas (hydrology, agriculture, drought, flood, wild fire, etc.).

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.35 no.5
• /
• pp.459-465
• /
• 2022

This paper reports a method to use a wireless sensor network deployed in the field to real-time monitor soil moisture, warning when the moisture level reaches a specific value, and wirelessly controlling an additional device (LED or water supply system, etc.). In addition, we report all processes related to wireless irrigation system, including field deployment of sensors, real-time monitoring using a smartphone, data calibration, and control of additional devices deployed in the field by smartphone. A commercially available open-source Internet of Things (IoT) platform, NodeMCU, was used, which was combined with a 9V battery, LED and soil humidity sensor to be integrated into a portable prototype. The IoT-based soil humidity sensor prototype deployed in the field was installed next to a tree for on-site demonstration for the measurement of soil humidity in real-time for about 30 hours, and the measured data was successfully transmitted to a smartphone via Wifi. The measurement data were automatically transmitted via e-mail in the form of a text file, stored on the web, followed by analyses and calibrations. The user can check the humidity of the soil real-time through a personal smartphone. When the humidity of a soil reached a specific value, an additional device, an LED device, placed in the field was successfully controlled through the smartphone. This LED can be easily replaced by other electronic devices such as water supplies, which can also be controlled by smartphones. These results show that farmers can not only monitor the condition of the field real-time through a sensor monitoring system manufactured simply at a low cost but also control additional devices such as irrigation facilities from a distance, thereby reducing unnecessary energy consumption and helping improve agricultural productivity.

• Journal of Korean Society of Disaster and Security
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2014

Smart Pole Measurement System was constructed with not only the core sensors of a GNSS receiver, a TRS sensor and a soil moisture sensor but supplementary installation of power supply and radio communication for monitoring steep slope sites. Also a data processing software for displacement extraction and visualization was developed. Smart Pole Measurement sensor is composed of a GNSS antenna at the top of the pole, a TRS sensor and a gyro sensor vertical below right of the antenna and a soil moisture sensor at the bottom of the pole. The sensor combination extracts not only ground combination in real time but transltion, slide, settlement and soil moisture content. This measuring/monitoring system which cosists of data receiving part, data collection/transfer part and data processing part was built to exercise their functions and then test measuring/monitoring was conducted by introducing artificial displacement and the results were analyzed to evaluate field applicability.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
• /
• v.22 no.12
• /
• pp.71-78
• /
• 2022

Electronic measuring devices have an important role in agricultural projects and in various fields. Electronic measuring devices play a vital role in controlling and saving soil information. They are designed to measure the temperature, acidity and moisture of the soil. In this paper, a new methodology to manage irrigation and soil fertility using an electronic system is proposed. This is designed to operate the electronic irrigation and adds inorganic fertilizers automatically. This paper also explains the concept of remote management and control of agricultural projects using electronic soil measurement devices. The proposed methodology is aimed at managing the electronic irrigation process, reading the moisture percentage, elements of soil and controlling the addition of inorganic fertilizers. The system also helps in sending alert messages to the user when an error occurs in measuring the percentage of soil moisture specified for crop and a warning message when change happens to the fertility of soil as many workers find difficulty in daily checking of soil and operating agricultural machines such as irrigation machine and soil fertilizing machine, especially in large projects.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.328-335
• /
• 2023

For appropriate nutrient management and enhanced plant growth, soil sensors which reflect soil nutrient levels are required. Because there is no available sensor for nutrient monitoring, electrical conductivity (EC) sensor can be used to evaluate soil nutrient levels. Soil nutrient management using EC sensors would be possible by understanding the relationship between sensor EC values and soil temperature, moisture, and nutrient content. However, the relationship between soil sensor EC values and plant available nutrients was not investigated. Therefore, the objectives of the study were to evaluate effect of different amount of urea on soil EC monitored by sensors during pepper and broccoli cultivation and to predict the plant available nutrient contents in soil. During the cultivation period, soil was collected periodically for analyzing pH and EC, and the available nutrient contents. The sensor EC value increased as the moisture content increased, and low fertilizer treated soil showed the lowest EC value. Principal component analysis was performed to determine the relationship between sensor EC and available nutrients in soil. Sensor EC showed a strong positive correlation with nitrate nitrogen and available Ca. In addition, sum of available nutrients such as Ca, Mg, K, P, S and N was positively related to the sensor EC values. Therefore, EC sensors in open field can be used to predict plant available nutrient levels for proper management of the soil.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.13-34
• /
• 2022

Soil moisture data have been collected at 11 agrometeorological stations operated by The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). This study aimed to verify the accuracy of soil moisture data of KMA and develop a correction formula to be applied to improve their quality. The soil of the observation field was sampled to analyze its physical properties that affect soil water content. Soil texture was classified to be sandy loam and loamy sand at most sites. The bulk density of the soil samples was about 1.5 g/cm³ on average. The content of silt and clay was also closely related to bulk density and water holding capacity. The EnviroSCAN model, which was used as a reference sensor, was calibrated using the self-manufactured "reference soil moisture observation system". Comparison between the calibrated reference sensor and the field sensor of KMA was conducted at least three times at each of the 11 sites. Overall, the trend of fluctuations over time in the measured values of the two sensors appeared similar. Still, there were sites where the latter had relatively lower soil moisture values than the former. A linear correction formula was derived for each site and depth using the range and average of the observed data for the given period. This correction formula resulted in an improvement in agreement between sensor values at the Suwon site. In addition, the detailed approach was developed to estimate the correction value for the period in which a correction formula was not calculated. In summary, the correction of soil moisture data at a regular time interval, e.g., twice a year, would be recommended for all observation sites to improve the quality of soil moisture observation data.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.54 no.2
• /
• pp.81-91
• /
• 2021

Synthetic Apreture Radar (SAR) is attracting attentions with its possibility of producing high resolution data that can be used for soil moisture estimation. High resolution soil moisture data enables more specific observation of soil moisture than existing soil moisture products from other satellites. It can also be used for studies of wildfire, landslide, and flood. The SAR based soil moisture estimation should be conducted considering vegetation, which affects backscattering signals from the SAR sensor. In this study, a SAR based soil moisture estimation at regions covered with various vegetation types on the middle area of Korea (Cropland, Grassland, Forest) is conducted. The representative backscattering model, Water Cloud Model (WCM) is used for soil moisture estimation over vegetated areas. Radar Vegetation Index (RVI) and in-situ soil moisture data are used as input factors for the model. Total 6 study areas are selected for 3 vegetation types according to land cover classification with 2 sites per each vegetation type. Soil moisture evaluation result shows that the accuracy of each site stands out in the order of grassland, forest, and cropland. Forested area shows correlation coefficient value higher than 0.5 even with the most dense vegetation, while cropland shows correlation coefficient value lower than 0.3. The proper vegetation and soil moisture conditions for SAR based soil moisture estimation are suggested through the results of the study. Future study, which utilizes additional ancillary vegetation data (vegetation height, vegetation type) is thought to be necessary.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
• /
• 2000.11b
• /
• pp.178-187
• /
• 2000

The tillage operation by rotary implements is widely done in Korea. In the case of rotary implements, the tillage depth control system is one of important implement control systems. A contact type-sensor for measurement of the ground height was designed and fabricated to evaluate the possibility of application of the sensor on the tillage depth control system. Indoor experiments were conducted to obtain static and dynamic detection characteristics of the sensor under various conditions; 1) several moisture contents for four soil samples, 2) two soil surfaces with a designed configuration, 3) four heights of the sensor from the soil surface, 4) five traveling speeds of the carrier on which the sensor was attached, and so on. The experimental results showed the detection characteristics of the sensor sufficient as the ground height sensor of the tillage depth control system.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.33-39
• /
• 2015

Recently, the event of slope failure has been occurring frequently due to rapid climate changes and broad development of infrastructures, and the research for establishment of monitoring and prevention system has been an attentive issue. The major influence factors of slope failure mechanism can be considered moisture and temperature in soil, and the slope failure can be monitored and predicted through the trend of moisture-temperature change. Therefore, the combined sensing technology for the continuous measurement of moisture-temperature with different soil depths is needed for the slope monitoring system. The various independent sensors for each item (i.e. temperature and moisture respectively) have been developed, however, the research for development of combined sensing system has been hardly carried out. In this study, the high-fidelity sensor combing temperature-moisture measurement by using the minimized current consuming temperature circuit and the microwave emission moisture sensor is developed and applied on the slope failure monitoring system. The feasibility of developed monitoring system is verified by various experimental approaches such as standard performance test, mockup test and long-term field test. As a result, the developed temperature-moisture combined measurement system is verified to be measuring and monitoring the temperature and moisture in soil accurately.

• Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.28-33
• /
• 2003

Achievements in the real-time soil spectro-photometer are: an improved soil penetrator to ensure a uniform soil surface under high speed conditions, real-time collecting of underground soil reflectance, getting underground soil color images, use of a RTK-GPS, and all units are arranged for compactness. With the soil spectrophotometer, field experiments were conducted in a 0.5 ha paddy field. With the original reflectance, averaging and multiple scatter correction, Kubelka-Munk (KM) transformation as soil absorption, its 1st and 2nd derivatives were calculated. When the spectra was highly correlated with the soil parameters, stepwise regression analysis was conducted. Results include the best prediction models for moisture, soil organic matter (SOM), nitrate nitrogen (NO$_3$-N), pH and electric conductivity (EC), and soil maps obtained by block kriging analysis.