Watch the Demo Video Download the Project Poster
Project Sponsors: NOAA Earth System Research Lab, the Soil Moisture Company and Professor Albin Gasiewski
The success of precision agriculture relies heavily on the use of pumped groundwater to irrigate crops. However, recent years have seen trends of depletion in many groundwater sources where agriculture is a thriving industry. Maintaining these groundwater reserves requires that farmers can optimize their use of groundwater so that they can have abundant harvests without wasting any water. In addition to the environmental issues that arise from the increasing scarcity of groundwater, pumping groundwater is more expensive for farmers. This results in a high demand by farmers for an easier way to monitor moisture levels in soil so that they may cut back on groundwater usage and maintain a more complete moisture distribution on various lands.
Accurate soil moisture measurements are important for optimizing the use of pumped ground water in precision agriculture. To this end the CU Center for Environmental Technology (CET) has developed a unique airborne microwave system for mapping soil moisture using small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS, or drones).
To provide greater soil penetration depth, this project seeks to complement the current microwave radiometric sensor by adding a radar operating in the VHF and/or UHF bands (~50-600 MHz). The radar technique to be demonstrated will use either a single or a pair of sUAS, one of which hosts a low-power frequency tunable transmitter, and the other (in case of a pair) hosts a radar receiver designed to measure the reflectivity of the soil. The reflected signal will be sensitive to soil moisture down to a depth of ~20-30 cm.
A dual drone system utilizes radar to measure soil moisture over an entire field and provide an efficient method for producing more cohesive analytics than other current methods. Long term benefits include a reduction in the cost of labor, reduced energy required for pumping excessive amounts of groundwater, and a lower environmental impact from the energy required to pump groundwater.
The Drone-Based RF Soil Moisture Radar provides a solution for farmers, agricultural businesses, and other individuals looking to optimize their agricultural water consumption. Indirect beneficiaries include anyone that lives in the vicinity where groundwater is currently pumped in excess. Product capabilities include:
- Radar enables users to measure the water density in any desired area with more accuracy and precision than previously possible.
- The use of autonomous flight control enables users without technical experience to benefit from this product.
- The use of two drones allows for users to cover a larger area quickly while maintaining a low power consumption.
- The ability to program a specific area and flight path allows for use in any specified location.