Title :
Wireless soil moisture sensor based on fringing capacitance
Author :
Wobschall, Darold ; Lakshmanan, Deepak
Author_Institution :
Esensors, Inc., Amherst
fDate :
Oct. 30 2005-Nov. 3 2005
Abstract :
A soil moisture sensor was developed which was based on fringing capacitance and the increase in dielectric constant of a soil-water mixture with water content. The frequency shift of an RC oscillator connected to the capacitance sensor electrode was measured by a microcontroller. The data, in IEEE 1451 format, is communicated by a built-in RF transmitter (433MHz) to a receiver or base station for logging and display. This battery-operated sensor/transmitter is expected to have an operational life of several years
Keywords :
capacitive sensors; hygrometers; moisture measurement; permittivity measurement; soil; 433 MHz; IEEE 1451 format; RC oscillator; RF receiver; RF transmitter; battery operated sensor; capacitance sensor electrode; dielectric constant; frequency shift; fringing capacitance; microcontroller; soil-water mixture; water content; wireless soil moisture sensor; Capacitance measurement; Capacitive sensors; Dielectric constant; Dielectric measurements; Electrodes; Frequency; Oscillators; Soil moisture; Transmitters; Wireless sensor networks;
Conference_Titel :
Sensors, 2005 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Irvine, CA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-9056-3
DOI :
10.1109/ICSENS.2005.1597624
