Electronic Tensiometer System for Continuous Monitoring of Soil Water Potential

Title Electronic Tensiometer System for Continuous Monitoring of Soil Water PotentialTitle (native language)

Category Recording or mapping technology

Short summary forpractitioners (Practiceabstract) in English)

The presented system is based on the open-source microcontroller platform, Arduino, and a fewadditional components, and it is designed to accomplish accurate measurements of soil matricpotential at regular intervals and to store data in memory for later retrieval. A suitable software code forthe microcontroller is freely available. The type of sensor used for this application is the piezoresistivedifferential pressure transducer MPX5100DP from Freescale Semiconductor with integratedtemperature compensation and signal amplification circuits.

Short summary forpractitionersWebsiteAudiovisual materialLinks to other websitesAdditional commentsKeywords Agricultural production systems | Soil management / functionality | Water managementAdditional keywordsGeographical location(NUTS) EU

Other geographicallocationCropping systems Arable crops | Tree crops | Open field vegetables | Vineyards | GrasslandField operations IrrigationSFT users FarmerEducation level of users Apprenticeship or technical school educationFarm size (ha) 50-100

Scientific articleTitle A low-cost electronic tensiometer system for continuous monitoring of soil water potentialFull citation Thalheimer, M. (2013). Journal of Agricultural Engineering, DOI:10.4081/jae.2013.e16

Effects of this SFTProductivity (crop yield per ha) No effectQuality of product No effectRevenue profit farm income No effectSoil biodiversity No effectBiodiversity (other than soil) No effectInput costs No effectVariable costs No effectPost-harvest crop wastage No effectEnergy use No effectCH4 (methane) emission No effectCO2 (carbon dioxide) emission No effectN2O (nitrous oxide) emission No effectNH3 (ammonia) emission No effectNO3 (nitrate) leaching No effectFertilizer use No effectPesticide use No effectIrrigation water use No effectLabor time No effectStress or fatigue for farmer No effectAmount of heavy physical labour No effectNumber and/or severity of personal injury accidents No effectNumber and/or severity of accidents resulting in spills property damage incorrectapplication of fertiliser/pesticides etc. No effect

Pesticide residue on product No effectWeed pressure No effectPest pressure (insects etc.) No effectDisease pressure (bacterial fungal viral etc.) No effect

Information related to how easy it is to start using the SFTThis SFT replaces a tool or technology that is currently used. The SFT is better than thecurrent tool no opinion

The SFT can be used without making major changes to the existing system no opinionThe SFT does not require significant learning before the farmer can use it no opinionThe SFT can be used in other useful ways than intended by the inventor no opinionThe SFT has effects that can be directly observed by the farmer disagreeUsing the SFT requires a large time investment by farmer agreeThe SFT produces information that can be interpreted directly disagree

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This factsheet was generated on 2018-Apr-03 11:57:19.