Salman Adil K, Al-Jumaili Mohammed, Sut-Lohmann Magdalena, Durner Wolfgang
Division of Soil Science, Institute of Geoecology, TU Braunschweig, Brunswick, Germany.
Institute of Robotics and Process Control, TU Braunschweig, Brunswick, Germany.
Environ Monit Assess. 2024 Dec 27;197(1):109. doi: 10.1007/s10661-024-13587-x.
Measuring soil moisture is essential in various scientific and engineering disciplines. Over recent decades, numerous technologies have been employed for in situ monitoring of soil moisture. Currently, dielectric-based sensors are the most popular measurement technology and provide acceptable accuracy for various measurement purposes. However, these sensors are relatively expensive, and alternative technologies, which are cheaper, are not accurate enough for scientific purposes. Recently, the idea of using a Wi-Fi signal to measure soil moisture has been presented. Theoretically, the use of Wi-Fi technology in soil sensing follows the same concepts as the previous dielectric sensors. The main advantage of Wi-Fi technology is the possibility of providing a relatively accurate and cost-effective solution for soil moisture measurement. In this work, we try to investigate the possibility of using Wi-Fi signal characteristics for soil sensing. Therefore, a series of small-scale laboratory and field experiments were conducted to test the concept. The results of these experiments were promising, showing strong linear relationships between Wi-Fi signal properties (received signal strength indicator, RSSI) and soil water content, with R values ranging between 0.92 and 0.99, indicating a strong correlation. They also illustrate the possibility of using this technology to develop an inexpensive and accurate device for measuring soil moisture. However, observations from the experiments also point to problematic factors involving the hardware and software used in the measurements. It is important to control these factors in the next steps to develop a reliable measurement device.
测量土壤湿度在各种科学和工程学科中至关重要。在最近几十年里，许多技术已被用于土壤湿度的原位监测。目前，基于介电特性的传感器是最流行的测量技术，并且能为各种测量目的提供可接受的精度。然而，这些传感器相对昂贵，而更便宜的替代技术在科学应用中精度又不够。最近，有人提出利用Wi-Fi信号来测量土壤湿度的想法。从理论上讲，在土壤传感中使用Wi-Fi技术与先前的介电传感器遵循相同的原理。Wi-Fi技术的主要优势在于有可能为土壤湿度测量提供一种相对准确且经济高效的解决方案。在这项工作中，我们试图研究利用Wi-Fi信号特性进行土壤传感的可能性。因此，进行了一系列小规模的实验室和现场实验来验证这一概念。这些实验的结果很有前景，显示出Wi-Fi信号特性（接收信号强度指示，RSSI）与土壤含水量之间存在很强的线性关系，相关系数R值在0.92至0.99之间，表明相关性很强。它们还说明了利用这项技术开发一种廉价且准确的土壤湿度测量设备的可能性。然而，实验观察结果也指出了测量中所使用硬件和软件存在的问题因素。在接下来的步骤中控制这些因素对于开发可靠的测量设备很重要。
