SitS NSF-UKRI: Wireless In-Situ Soil Sensing Network for Future Sustainable Agriculture

该项目是通过“土壤中的信号(SITS)”机会获得的，这是一项合作征集活动，涉及美国农业部、国家粮食和农业研究所(USDA NIFA)和以下英国研究与创新(UKRI)研究理事会：1)自然环境研究理事会(NERC)，2)生物技术和生物科学研究理事会(BBSRC)，3)工程和物理科学研究理事会(EPSRC)和科学和技术设施理事会(STFC)。这个项目是由美国犹他大学的研究人员与英国伦敦帝国理工学院和阿伯丁大学的研究人员合作完成的。到2050年，世界人口预计将超过90亿，粮食产量的增加威胁着土壤安全，是21世纪的重大挑战之一。维持高水平的粮食生产依赖于灌溉农业，在世界许多地区，灌溉农业消耗了70%以上的淡水储备。由于淡水资源的减少，替代水源已被考虑并用于农业。然而，它们对土壤健康的影响以及对土壤生态系统和生产力的相关污染影响在很大程度上仍不清楚。本研究致力于开发低成本的无线土壤传感网络，通过使用不同的替代水源，有效地指示被灌溉土壤的健康状况。研究成果不仅对开发更好的土壤维护、保护和管理实践至关重要，而且对于开展广泛的土壤健康研究以及与可持续农业相关的联系也是至关重要的。该研究计划的目标是通过使用商用传感探头开发低功率、低成本的地下无线传感网络，但设计低功耗电子设备并将其与拟议的无线供电和数据遥测系统集成，然后在田间对传感网络进行打包和验证。原型系统将在一项初步研究中进一步演示，以调查灌溉对不同水源土壤条件的影响。由于没有太阳能电池板或电池等大型电源，建议的系统可以大幅降低埋入地下的传感器的成本。许多昂贵的电子产品将被转移到自动驾驶车辆(地面或空中)上实施的外部供能系统。低成本和低功耗的配置可能会为大片农田或密集的研究地块监控提供更高的传感器密度。在自动驾驶车辆上实现的土壤传感网络的无线接口可以极大地减少目前实验室密集的人机接口。拟议的网络将从项目一开始就与农业行业的利益攸关方合作开发。考虑到这一愿景，这个美英SIT研究团队计划通过以下任务实现拟议的目标。(1)开发低功耗、低成本、地下、就地土壤传感器模块，实现与商业产品相比功率和成本降低一到两个数量级。分立和ASIC形式的低功耗电子产品将被设计并安装到现有的传感器探头技术中。(2)开发无线电力传输和数据遥测系统，可以将电力从地面上的电源传输到地下传感器模块，为可充电电池充电或实现无电池的地下传感操作。这种方式可以大大简化系统的安装和维护。(3)在受控实验室环境和开放现场测试中演示拟议的系统运行。将对传感器模块的校准和稳定性进行研究，以确保长期可靠的运行。(4)利用无线传感器技术，研究替代水源灌溉对土壤健康的影响。土壤水分、温度和盐度将被现场测量并以无线方式收集。将从采集的土壤样本中测量土壤pH、氨、有机碳和氮。这些参数可以反映不同灌溉方式下的土壤内在条件。拟议的传感网络和研究可以使灌溉农业中的淡水资源得到更有效的利用。建议的遥感范例可应用于广泛的土壤健康研究，通过帮助改善土壤条件和农业生产力，产生直接的社会影响。此外，研究团队将通过建立跨学科的教育和培训计划，并与农业生产者和利益相关者接触来传播研究成果，从而扩大这项研究的影响。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project was awarded through the "Signals in the Soil (SitS)" opportunity, a collaborative solicitation that involves the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) and the following United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) research councils: 1) The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), 2) the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), 3) the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). This project is a collaboration between researchers at the University of Utah in the U.S. and researchers at the Imperial College London and the University of Aberdeen in the UK. With the world's population expected to surpass 9 billion by 2050, increasing food production threatens soil security, presenting one of the grand challenges of the 21st century. Sustaining high levels of food production depends on irrigated agriculture, which consumes over 70% of freshwater reserves in many regions of the world. Due to the diminishing freshwater sources, alternative water sources have been considered and used for agriculture. However, their impact on soil health and related contaminant effects on the soil ecosystem and productivity remain largely unknown. This research focuses on developing low-cost wireless soil sensing network that can effectively indicate the health condition of soils being irrigated by using different alternative water sources. The research outcomes will not only be critical for developing better soil maintenance, protection, and management practice, but also for enabling a wide range of research on soil health and associated links to sustainable agriculture.The goal of this research program is to develop a low-power and low-cost underground wireless sensing network by employing commercially available sensing probes, but designing low-power electronics and integrating them with the proposed wireless powering and data telemetry system, followed by packaging and validating the sensing network in the field. The prototype system will be further demonstrated in a pilot study to investigate the effect of irrigation on soil condition with different water sources. The proposed system can substantially reduce the cost of the buried sensors as there would be no large power source such as a solar panel or a battery. Much of the expensive electronics would be moved to the external powering system implemented on an autonomous vehicle (ground or aerial). The lower-cost and lower-power configuration can potentially enable a much higher sensor density for large farmland or intense research plot monitoring. The wireless interface for the soil sensing network implemented on autonomous vehicles can greatly reduce the current lab-intensive human interface. The proposed network will be developed in collaboration with stakeholders in the agricultural industry from the outset of the project. With this vision in mind, this US-UK SitS research team plans to achieve the proposed objectives through the following tasks. (1) Develop low-power, low-cost, underground, in-situ soil sensor modules and achieve a reduction in power and cost by one to two orders of magnitude compared to commercial products. Low-power electronics in both discrete and ASIC forms will be designed and fitted to existing sensor probe technology. (2) Develop wireless power transfer and data telemetry systems that can transfer power from a source above the ground to an underground sensor module, charging a rechargeable battery or enabling a battery-less underground sensing operation. This approach can greatly simplify the system installation and maintenance. (3) Demonstrate the proposed system operation from a controlled laboratory environment and open field testing. Sensor modules' calibration and stability will be investigated to ensure long-term reliable operation. (4) Deploy the wireless sensor technology to investigate irrigation effect on soil health by using alternative water sources. Soil moisture, temperature, and salinity will be measured in-situ and collected wirelessly. Soil pH, ammonia, organic carbon and nitrogen will be measured from collected soil samples. These parameters can indicate soil intrinsic conditions due to different irrigation practices. The proposed sensing network and study could enable far more efficient use of fresh water sources in irrigated agriculture. The proposed sensing paradigm could be applied to a wide range of soil health studies with direct societal impact by helping improve soil conditions and agricultural productivity. Furthermore, the research team will broaden the impact of this research through establishing an interdisciplinary education and training program, and engaging with agricultural producers and stakeholders to disseminate research results.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.