Development and Evaluation of Photo-Activated Sensors for Monitoring Soil Nutrients

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The advent of the soil nutrient monitoring sensor network could prove to be invaluable in managing soil quality, diagnosing problem areas, and matching fertilizer supply with demand, as well as reducing cost and increasing yields. However, current technologies to monitor soil nutrients have significant limitations for widespread applications to tackle this important global issue. To address this need, we will design, develop, fabricate, and evaluate an inexpensive, miniature sensor for monitoring the most essential soil nutrient, nitrogen. Our approach will apply several emerging technological innovations, including nanomaterial fabrication, the ultraviolet light-emitting diode (UV-LED), and artificial intelligence (AI). Specifically, we will take sensor development in a new direction by creating arrays of semiconductor-based sensing nodes that are activated by UV-LEDs and are responsive to a variety of nitrogen-containing gas mixtures in the air in equilibrium with the soil. We will then apply AI to teach the sensors to not only detect the presence of these gases, but to also identify their composition and quantities, to obtain accurate monitoring of the soil nitrogen content. The developed sensor can also be applied to identify sources of the most problematic environmentally pollutant gases in soil such as N2O, NH3 and other harmful N-containing gases, by monitoring their release. We have a strong collaboration at all level of government (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada- AAFC), academia (UBC Farm living laboratory), and industry (Agrobotic & Terra Optima). The principal investigator has substantial experience in developing photo-activated sensors. Our partner organization Agrobotic has been working on sensors fabrication and its integration with AI to provide farmers with a data-driven approach to monitor their soil health. The proposed research will further Canada's expertise and competitiveness in agricultural sciences by providing a competitive training environment for HQP. Our partners are in an excellent position to exploit and benefit from advances to this technology. The outcomes of this project, however, will indeed reach beyond the partner organizations and impact society.