Support for this study was provided by The Southeastern Peanut Research Initiative of the National Peanut Board and the Georgia Peanut Commission and by Paul Gupta of I-Linc Wireless Solutions.

Rationale: As costs for fuel and/or electricity for irrigation pumping and system operation and for fuel and labor used in driving to crop fields to check on water needs increase, proven technologies for remote monitoring and scheduling advisories have moved from a place of convenience to a cost saving necessity. FarmLincTM  an agriculture-oriented application from i-Linc, Inc, a Georgia-based company, provides web-based hosting of monitoring and advisory services. Farmers can access their information on the Internet at home, office, or, using web-enabled phones, in the field.

Study Objectives: Provide wireless soil water monitoring of peanut irrigation research plots and refine and test web-hosted irrigation scheduling advisories based on soil water sensing, meteorological, and other information obtained on farm fields.

Methods and Equipment:

SIRP map showing location of base station radio at "A" and field radio at "C". A rectangular area outlined in the Newton Linear Field indivates the area where 9 Irrometer 950T1 transmitters attached to sets of 3 Watermark sensors plus one soil temperature sensor. They are in the 2nd replicate of the north (peanut) section. This group of sensors are the first to be brought into the FarmLinc pages.
View of the power-supply panel where existing Irrometer 950R1 receivers are located. Currently, three receiver/data loggers are mounted there. All are solar powered. The first is connected to 9 Irrometer 950T1 transmitters attached to sets of 4 Watermark sensors in the 2nd replicate of the south section. In 2008 maize was planted there. The second is connected to 9 ftransmitters attached to sets of 3 Watermark sensors plus one soil thermister in the 2nd replicate of the Newton linear north section. In 2008, peanut was planted there. The third transmitter is connected to 8 radios with 4 watermarks each in the Newton linear center section, (2008 cotton), and to 8 radios in the 1st replicate of the Camilla linear south section, also cotton.
View of the field where transmitters for this project are located. The peanut planting (left) is just beyond the cotton in the foreground. The 950T1 transmitter is visible in the foreground in its gray, PVC-pipe housing. Others are visible in the background.

Closeups (below) of the transmitters. Wires extend from base of pvc tube to locations of Watermark soil water pressure sensors and thermisters. For the corn installation taller PVC tubes are used.
Line of sight path from field radio module to building base station. This view (left) is from the midpoint 'B' in the image above, looking NE towards the building that will house the base station. The view (right) looking SW towards the location of the power-supply panel three 950R1's. A linear move periodically will be in the path (as shown), sweet corn, pine trees, and underbrush further obscure this ground level view.
Field location of Irrometer 950R1 receiver for the peanut field and field radio module 900M-FR at the power panel at 'C' in the above image. Both are powered by expanded solar panel-charged lead-acid battery in a separate, adjacent housing.
The base station radio/antenna 900M-FR/BR were mounted on heavy conduit attached to the support adjacent to the existing antenna for the AIC system. It used the same portal to the cnetwork room.
The server room where the gateway radio was attached for internet access. A fixed IP was assigned for the radio.


Results to Date: No Data

Reports No Data