Smart Bluetooth Stakes: Deployment of Soil Moisture Sensors with Rotating High-Gain Antenna Receiver on Center Pivot Irrigation Boom in a Commercial Wheat Field.

Samuel Craven, Austin Bee, Blake Sanders, Eliza Hammari, Cooper Bond, Ruth Kerry, Neil Hansen, Brian A Mazzeo

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Sensors (Basel, Switzerland), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed

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2 · The registry

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Samuel CravenDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.ORCID 0009-0005-9210-2470

Austin BeeDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.ORCID 0009-0002-9057-0527

Blake SandersDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.

Eliza HammariDepartment of Geography, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.

Cooper BondDepartment of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.

Ruth KerryDepartment of Geography, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9174-0167

Neil HansenDepartment of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8066-3346

Brian A MazzeoDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3558-1461

Funding

National Institute of Food and Agriculture 2024-67021-4278

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Realization of the goals of precision agriculture is dependent on prescribing irrigation strategies matched to spatiotemporal variations in soil moisture on commercial farms. However, the scale at which these variations occur is not well understood. A high-spatial-density network of sensors with the ability to measure and report data over the course of a growing season is needed. In this work, design of the low-profile Smart Bluetooth Stake spatiotemporal soil moisture mapping system is presented. Smart stakes use Bluetooth Low Energy to communicate 64 MHz soil moisture impedance measurements from ground level to a receiver mounted on the center-pivot irrigation boom and equipped with a rotating high-gain parabolic antenna. Smart stakes can remain in the ground throughout the entire growing season without disrupting farm operations. A system of 86 sensors was deployed on a 50-hectare commercial field near Elberta, Utah, during the final growth stage of a crop of winter wheat. Different receiver antenna configurations were tested over the course of several weeks which included two full irrigation cycles. In the high-gain antenna configuration, data was successfully collected from 75 sensors, with successful packet transmission at ranges of approximately 600 m. Enough data was collected to construct a spatiotemporal moisture map of the field over the course of an irrigation cycle. Smart Bluetooth Stakes constitute an important advance in the spatial density achievable with direct sensors for precision agriculture.

Indexed as

Bluetooth Low Energyenvironmental monitoringIoTprecision agriculturesensor networkssoil moisturesolar energy harvestingwater conservation

Identifiers

PMID40942965

DOI10.3390/s25175537

PMCPMC12431093

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.