Recent Technological Upgrades to the SHYPROM IoT-Based System for Monitoring Soil Water Status.

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Agricultural Engineering
• Hydrology

Background:

• Effective water resource management is vital for agricultural sustainability and environmental protection, especially facing water scarcity.
• Soil moisture (θ), matric potential (h), and hydraulic conductivity (K) are critical parameters for water availability and hydrological processes.
• Accurate, real-time soil monitoring is needed for laboratory and open-field applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present technological upgrades to the innovative IoT-based SHYPROM (Soil HYdraulic PROperties Meter) system.
• To enhance the accuracy and robustness of simultaneous estimation of θ, h, and K at different soil depths.
• To support precision irrigation, optimize water allocation, and aid hydrological/environmental monitoring.

Main Methods:

• Upgraded the capacitive module of SHYPROM with a 60 MHz oscillator circuit for improved soil moisture (θ) estimation.
• Calibrated and validated the system using laboratory experiments on diverse soil textures, comparing measurements to the thermo-gravimetric method.
• Conducted evaporation experiments to determine θ(h) and K(θ) relationships, fitting data with van Genuchten and van Genuchten-Mualem models.

Main Results:

• The upgraded SHYPROM demonstrated improved accuracy in capturing dynamic soil moisture changes (R² values: 0.91–0.96).
• Validation experiments confirmed the system's ability to accurately predict soil water content across a range of 0 to 0.40 cm³/cm³.
• The system accurately captured the temporal evolution of soil water status, with R² values ranging from 0.97 to 0.99 for retention and conductivity data.

Conclusions:

• The enhanced SHYPROM system provides accurate, real-time monitoring of critical soil hydraulic properties.
• The upgraded system is suitable for both laboratory and field applications in agriculture and environmental monitoring.
• SHYPROM facilitates improved water resource management and precision irrigation strategies.