IoT for measuring the soil, plant, and atmosphere continuum
Revolutionising data collection
The use of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions in the soil, plant, and atmosphere continuum is revolutionising data collection. Data from sensors across the landscape, sent directly to databases and dashboards, allows for simultaneous and repeated measurements to be taken of key parameters affecting plant growth.
As the application of IoT solutions to soil, plant, and atmosphere continuum has increased, the use of data is moving from a measure and monitor scenario to one where informed decisions can be made.
IoT solutions from ICT International are designed to be user friendly and customisable to the user’s needs, from providing data for scientific research projects, to integration with decision-making systems, to ensuring environmental management compliance.
Supporting and enabling data collection and visualisation
ICT International supports data collection and visualisation from:
- Remote data collection over LoRaWAN, CAT-M1 or NB-IoT
- Whole stack solutions, with ICT International supplied sensor, data hosting and dashboard.
- Partial stack solutions, where data is diverted to an existing customer managed database, via either:
- MQTT (JSON or CSV) directly from the device
- API or MQTT from an ICT International managed server
- Customer managed LoRaWAN network, decoders are provided for conversion of hexadecimal payloads for common LoRaWAN servers (e.g. Actility, TTN, ChirpStack)
Data can be accessed through either MQTT or APIs, depending on the stage that the data is being retrieved. All processed data is available in human readable form, suitable for use in statistical packages such as R or Python. Raw data is transmitted as hexadecimal values, and full decoders are supplied for the integration of ICT International devices to customer dashboards or databases.
Please contact ICT International to discuss your requirements.
There are two network types used in Internet of Things deployments, and each has advantages and disadvantages.
- LoRaWAN: LoRaWAN provides a user-managed network solution for low power, long range, wireless networking. With a range of upto 10km (depending on terrain, foliage, buildings, and other parameters). Requiring a gateway connected to the internet (or local server), LoRaWAN is an ideal solution when there are many sensors deployed to measure soil, plant, and environmental parameters simultaneously. The internet connection can be through Wi-Fi or Ethernet, depending on gateway in use. There are also gateways available that use a cellular data modem, which will require a larger data allowance than the data used by the CAT-M1/NB-IoT solutions.
- Cellular: Using aspects of the cellular network, these options require a device SIM card (and associated costs) to access the internet for data transmission. CAT-M1/NB-IoT provide access via specific networks
- CAT-M1/NB-IoT: These solutions provide single device connectivity using a cellular network structure that is optimised for small data volumes. Requiring cellular connection, these devices are ideal for urban and peri-urban applications, but can work in more remote areas depending on connection. For certain research applications, these connection solutions can be the most suitable due to avoiding the need to introduce a device needing connection to an organisational network (e.g. university) where each user requires network credentials.
- General Cellular: Where CAT-M1/NB-IoT coverage does not exist, ICT International has found that general cellular networks can work with the cellular devices. Please contact ICT International to discuss your specific application and location for further details.
- Data collection for model construction
- Simultaneous measurements
- Calculations performed in the cloud
- Integration into Complex models
- Integration with decision making tools
- irrigation
- harvest
- agrometeorology risks
- Instant access to data
- Graph visualisation
- Geospatial
- Concurrent multiple and remote site monitoring
- Remote site monitoring: confirms data is being collected, reduces data gaps
- Multiple site monitoring: reduced travel time and cost, allows for simultaneous measurement of different sites.
ICT International have designed the datasets from their IoT devices to be compatible with the FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability) guiding principles.
All data generated by ICT International designed and developed IoT devices is available in machine readable representations such as JSON and CSV. The data contained within these datasets is available in both calculated and raw data for processing.
Data is transmitted via the Internet of Things using MQTT. Throughout this, the data remains in the ownership of the creator (the customer of ICT International device).
All data is available for download from the endpoint in a machine-readable format. This ensures that there is an opportunity to retain data when a subscription to the IoT service is cancelled or concluded. This is ideal for research projects where long-term data retention is required.