PFI:AIR - TT: In-Situ Wireless Soil Sensor for Moisture, Salinity and Ions

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This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on translating agricultural soil sensor development research into accurate monitoring of spatio-temporal variation of soil properties of agricultural interest. The development of the proposed soil sensors is important because they can enable the real-time, in-place monitoring of soil moisture, salinity, and nutrients in production agriculture, thus enabling precise nutrient management. This project will result in a feasible design/prototype of an in-situ soil sensor for agricultural application. This soil sensor has the unique features that it can measure the soil properties mentioned above in real-time when deployed in an underground grid configuration with support for wireless interaction. Current sensing systems do not support continual in-situ monitoring and also require manual operation, while the proposed system is a fully-automated solution, capable of continual in-situ monitoring and wireless transport.This project addresses technical gaps as it translates from research discovery toward commercial application in soil sensors for agriculture. Specifically in this project, sensor prototypes, using dielectric-based moisture/salinity sensing and electrophoretic nitrate sensing packaged with signal processing and wireless capability for underground deployment, will be tested and evaluated.In addition, personnel involved in this project, namely the two PhD students, will receive innovation and technology translation experiences through soil sensor development and evaluation research, regular participation in interactions with the Iowa State Office of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer for disclosures and patents, and further interactions with agricultural domain industries for licensing, technology transfer and commercialization.The project engages Microwaves by the Weber, Inc. as a consultant with experience in product design, development and commercialization to augment the team's research capability, and guide commercialization aspects in this technology translation effort from research discovery toward commercial reality.