Development of a portable multisensor platform for soil mapping¹

Desenvolvimento de uma plataforma multisensor portátil para mapeamento de solo

ABSTRACT

Soil sensors are alternatively used to reduce the costs of soil sampling and be able to perform analyses in a laboratory. However, using individual sensors can result in low accuracy because the measured variable may be related to more than one soil characteristics. This study aimed to develop a portable soil multisensor platform with sensors for apparent electrical conductivity, moisture, temperature, and penetration resistance of the soil. The multisensor platform was developed based on a BeagleBone Black (BBB) single-board computer. Electronic circuits have been developed for electrical conductivity and moisture sensors. A load cell was used in the soil-penetration resistance sensor. For validation, the ECa, soil moisture, and penetration resistance data obtained using the multisensor platform and commercial sensors were compared. A low-cost global navigation satellite system module was used to georeference sampling points. The cost of acquiring the components required to assemble the multisensor platform was US$ 361.94. The strong correlation between the data obtained with the multisensor platform and commercial sensors proves that the developed multisensor platform has acceptable accuracy. The spatial variability of the apparent soil electrical conductivity, moisture, temperature, and penetration resistance in a coffee plantation can be characterized by the generated maps from the data obtained by the four sensors.

Key words
Apparent electrical conductivity; Soil penetration resistance; BeagleBone Black; Single-board computer; Soil sensors.