A low-power, low-cost soil-moisture sensor using dual-probe heat-pulse technique

•Integrated low-power and low-cost dual-probe heat-pulse (DPHP) soil-moisture sensor is designed and fabricated.•Supply voltage of 3.3V is given to the heater coil having resistance of 33Ω and thereby power consumption of the sensor is reduced to 330mW, which is among the lowest in this category of sensors.•DPHP sensor and electronics were driven by solar cell and 3.7V lithium ion battery with capacity of 1150mAh.•The sensor integrated with electronics was tested independently in two separate laboratories for validating as well as investigating the dependence of the measurement of soil-moisture on the density of the soil. This paper presents the development and testing of an integrated low-power and low-cost dual-probe heat-pulse (DPHP) soil-moisture sensor in view of the electrical power consumed and affordability in developing countries. A DPHP sensor has two probes: a heater and a temperature sensor probe spaced 3mm apart from the heater probe. Supply voltage of 3.3V is given to the heater-coil having resistance of 33Ω power consumption of 330mW, which is among the lowest in this category of sensors. The heater probe is 40mm long with 2mm diameter and hence is stiff enough to be inserted into the soil. The parametric finite element simulation study was performed to ensure that the maximum temperature rise is between 1°C and 5°C for wet and dry soils, respectively. The discrepancy between the simulation and experiment is less than 3.2%. The sensor was validated with white clay and tested with red soil samples to detect volumetric water-content ranging from 0% to 30%. The sensor element is integrated with low-power electronics for amplifying the output from thermocouple sensor and TelosB mote for wireless communication. A 3.7V lithium ion battery with capacity of 1150mAh is used to power the system. The battery is charged by a 6V and 300mA solar cell array. Readings were taken in 30min intervals. The life-time of DPHP sensor node is around 3.6 days. The sensor, encased in 30mm×20mm×10mm sized box, and integrated with electronics was tested independently in two separate laboratories for validating as well as investigating the dependence of the measurement of soil-moisture on the density of the soil. The difference in the readings while repeating the experiments was found out to be less than 0.01%. Furthermore, the effect of ambient temperature on the measurement of soil-moisture is studied experimentally and computationally.