Wireless Sensor Network for Irrigation Application in Cotton

A wireless sensor network was deployed in a cotton field to monitor soil water status for irrigation. The network included two systems, a Decagon system and a microcontroller-based system. The Decagon system consists of soil volumetric water-content sensors, wireless data loggers, and a central data station. Sensor data collected by each data logger were wirelessly transferred to and stored in the data station. The microcontroller-based system was designed to be a low-cost data logger for monitoring Watermark water-potential sensors. An infrared thermometer was used in the field to measure plant canopy temperature for evaluating its usefulness in detecting water stress in cotton under humid conditions. Soil water and plant canopy temperature data were collected during the 2011 cotton growing season. Deployment, performance, and maintenance of the systems are described and discussed.