TARGETED IRRIGATION USING A CENTRAL PIVOT IRRIGATION SYSTEM WITH A SENSOR NETWORK

• US 20160088807A1
• Filed: 09/29/2014
• Published: 03/31/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hamann, Hendrik F., Klein, Levente, Marianno, Fernando J., Bermudez Rodriguez, Sergio A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,943,046 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 25/092 movable around a pivot centre
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 25/16 Control of watering
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 25/167 Control by humidity of the soil itself or of devices simulating soil or of the atmosphere; Soil humidity sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2625 Sprinkler, irrigation, watering

Abstract

A system includes a plurality of optical sensors located along at least one pipe segment of a rotating arm that pivots around an irrigation area of a field, the plurality of optical sensors continuously monitors soil and vegetation conditions and transmits sensed data to a central computer, and a plurality of in-ground sensors scattered in the irrigation area of the field, the plurality of in-ground sensors continuously monitors soil conditions and transmits sensed data to a plurality of gateway devices located in the rotating arm, the plurality of gateway devices transmits data from the plurality of in-ground sensors to the central computer where data from the plurality of optical sensors and the plurality of in-ground sensors is integrated with external data to determine water and fertilizer needs based on which an irrigation schedule is created.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a plurality of optical sensors located along at least one pipe segment of a rotating arm that pivots around an irrigation area of a field, wherein the plurality of optical sensors continuously monitors soil and vegetation conditions and transmits sensed data to a central computer; and

a plurality of in-ground sensors scattered in the irrigation area of the field, wherein the plurality of in-ground sensors continuously monitors soil conditions and transmits sensed data to a plurality of gateway devices located in the rotating arm, wherein the plurality of gateway devices transmits data from the plurality of in-ground sensors to the central computer,

wherein the central computer integrates data from the plurality of optical sensors and the plurality of in-ground sensors with external data acquired by the central computer to determine water and fertilizer needs based on which an irrigation schedule is created.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of optical sensors comprises:

a down facing battery powered camera system comprising a wireless mote, a fisheye lens, and an integrated set of automatically adjustable filters, the automatically adjustable set of filters allows light on a specific bandwidth to pass through the fisheye lens to obtain spectrally distributed images of the canopy or crop, wherein a location and time of each image obtained by the optical sensors is provided by a global positioning system (GPS).

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the soil and vegetation properties detected by the plurality of optical sensors comprises:

canopy reflectance, vegetation index, nitrogen distribution, soil temperature and canopy temperature.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the soil and vegetation properties detected by the plurality of optical sensors are transmitted via the wireless mote to the central computer, the central computer correlates detected soil and vegetation properties with a position of the rotating arm.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the soil properties detected by the plurality of in-ground sensors comprises:

soil moisture, soil temperature, nitrogen concentration and ionic potential variations caused by fertilizers in the soil.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of in-ground sensors are connected to various microcontrollers and radio devices to transmit acquired data to the plurality of gateway devices, the plurality of gateway devices process data from the in-ground sensors in real time and transmit processed data to the central computer to adjust the irrigation schedule, a speed of the rotating arm or request additional information from additional sensors.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of microwave devices located along one or more of the pipe segments of the rotating arm, the microwave devices detecting soil moisture information to complement properties detected by the plurality of in-ground sensors scattered in the irrigation area of the field.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the plurality of microwave devices comprises:

a microwave polarimetry generator (VV, HH, VH, and HV) coupled to a sensor that functions at different frequencies and polarization levels.

9. A system comprising:

a plurality of pipe segments joined together end-to-end and supported above the ground on wheeled framed towers, the plurality of pipe segments are rotatably attached at one end to a central tower such that they rotate freely about the central tower, each pipe segment comprising one or more nozzles for dispensing a fluid on an irrigation area below the pipe segments;

a plurality of optical sensors located along one or more of the pipe segments, wherein the optical sensors estimate soil and vegetation properties and generates optical sensor data;

a plurality of in-ground sensors at least partially embedded into the soil within the irrigation area, wherein the in-ground sensors detect soil properties and generates in-ground sensor data;

a gateway device attached to one or more of the wheeled framed towers, wherein the plurality of in-ground sensors wirelessly transmit the soil properties to the gateway device; and

a central computer located in the central tower, wherein the gateway device wireles sly transmits the in-ground sensor data to the central computer, and wherein the central computer determines the irrigation needs of the irrigation area in the form of an irrigation map by processing the in-ground sensor data, the optical sensor data, and external data, wherein the central computer communicates with individual flow control valves corresponding with each nozzle to open or close to irrigate one or more zones identified by the irrigation map.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the plurality of optical sensors comprises:

a down facing battery powered camera system comprising a wireless mote, a fisheye lens, and an integrated set of automatically adjustable filters, the automatically adjustable set of filters allows light on a specific bandwidth to pass through the fisheye lens to obtain spectrally distributed images of the canopy or crop, wherein a location and time of each image obtained by the optical sensors is provided by a global positioning system (GPS).

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the optical sensor data includes canopy reflectance, vegetation index, nitrogen distribution, soil temperature and canopy temperature.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the soil and vegetation properties detected by the plurality of optical sensors are transmitted via the wireless mote to the central computer, the central computer correlates detected soil and vegetation properties with a position of the rotating arm.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the soil properties detected by the plurality of in-ground sensors comprises:

soil moisture, soil temperature, nitrogen concentration and ionic potential variations caused by fertilizers in the soil.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the in-ground sensors are connected to various microcontrollers and radio devices to transmit acquired data to the gateway device, the gateway device processes data from the in-ground sensors in real time and transmit processed data to the central computer to adjust the irrigation schedule, a speed of the rotating arm or request additional information from additional sensors.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the external data comprises:

weather data, satellite data, solar radiation data, and crop models acquired by the central computer.

16. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

a plurality of microwave devices located along one or more of the pipe segments of the rotating arm, the microwave devices detecting soil moisture information to complement properties detected by the plurality of in-ground sensors scattered in the irrigation area of the field.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the plurality of microwave devices comprises:

a microwave polarimetry generator (VV, HH, VH, and HV) coupled to a sensor that functions at different frequencies and polarization levels.

18. A method comprising:

providing a central pivot irrigation system comprising a plurality of pipe segments joined together end-to-end and supported above the ground on wheeled framed towers, wherein the plurality of pipe segments are rotatably attached at one end to a central tower such that they rotate freely about the central tower, wherein each pipe segment comprises one or more nozzles for dispensing a fluid on an irrigation area below the pipe segments;

acquiring in-field data from a wireless sensor network comprising a plurality of optical sensors located along one or more of the pipe segments, the optical sensors estimating soil and vegetation properties and generating optical sensor data, a plurality of in-ground sensors at least partially embedded into the soil within the irrigation area, the in-ground sensors detecting soil properties and generating in-ground sensor data, and a gateway device attached to one or more of the wheeled framed towers, wherein the plurality of in-ground sensors wirelessly transmits the soil properties to the gateway device and the gateway device wirelessly transmits the in-ground sensor data to a central computer located in the central tower; and

determining in the central computer irrigation needs of the irrigation area in the form of an irrigation map by processing the in-ground sensor data, the optical sensor data, and external data, wherein the central computer communicates with individual flow control valves corresponding with each nozzle to open or close to irrigate one or more zones identified by the irrigation map.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein acquiring in-field data from the wireless sensor network further comprises:

obtaining data from a plurality of microwave devices located along one or more of the pipe segments of the rotating arm, the microwave devices detecting soil moisture information to complement properties detected by the plurality of in-ground sensors scattered in the irrigation area of the field.

20. A computer readable non-transitory article of manufacture tangibly embodying computer readable instructions which, when executed, cause a computer to carry out the steps of a method according to claim 19, the method comprising:

providing a central pivot irrigation system comprising a plurality of pipe segments joined together end-to-end and supported above the ground on wheeled framed towers, wherein the plurality of pipe segments are rotatably attached at one end to a central tower such that they rotate freely about the central tower, wherein each pipe segment comprises one or more nozzles for dispensing a fluid on an irrigation area below the pipe segments;

acquiring in-field data from a wireless sensor network comprising a plurality of optical sensors located along one or more of the pipe segments, the optical sensors estimating soil and vegetation properties and generating optical sensor data, a plurality of in-ground sensors at least partially embedded into the soil within the irrigation area, the in-ground sensors detecting soil properties and generating in-ground sensor data, and a gateway device attached to one or more of the wheeled framed towers, wherein the plurality of in-ground sensors wirelessly transmits the soil properties to the gateway device and the gateway device wirelessly transmits the in-ground sensor data to a central computer located in the central tower; and

determining in the central computer irrigation needs of the irrigation area in the form of an irrigation map by processing the in-ground sensor data, the optical sensor data, and external data, wherein the central computer communicates with individual flow control valves corresponding with each nozzle to open or close to irrigate one or more zones identified by the irrigation map.