The Sensor measures the volumetric water content(VWC), the Soil temperature, and the electrical conductivity (EC). The VWC is used to determine the amount of water stored in the soil. Electrical conductivity can be used to determine the level of salts in soil (salinity). These parameters are very important indicators of soil fertility and health, which ultimately affect the plants that grow in them. High soil salinity will make it difficult for plants to consume water even with a high moisture level in the soil. This will ultimately "burn" the plants. Meanwhile, too much moisture in the soil is not only bad for the plants but also wastes water and adds extra burdens on our planet.

Plants grow best in their preferred environment, at the optimal ranges of soil moisture, temperature, and EC level. It is important for growers to get access to the data of these parameters, to get insights on what actions need to be taken to ensure plant health and higher yield.
This Soil Moisture & Temperature & EC LoRaWAN Sensor is designed with industry standards, featuring high precision and high sensitivity and durability. It has a LoRaWAN module to transmit collected data over long distances without cables. Incorporating three sensors (soil moisture sensor, soil temperature sensor, and soil electrical conductivity) into one, with auto temperature compensation, this sensor ensures the accuracy of measurements regardless of the environmental changes.
By measuring the dielectric constant of the soil, it can measure the soil VWC (volumetric water content) regardless of various soil types. The measurement conforms to current international standards for soil moisture measurement.
The stainless-steel probe can be permanently inserted in the soil with quick testing for long-term use. This soil sensor is IP66 rated, very robust and durable, suitable to be applied at long-term monitoring of soil moisture, temperature, and electrical conductivity at scientific experiments, water-saving irrigation, gardening, greenhouses, outdoor farming, horticulture, golf turf management, forestry, precision agriculture, and other professional environmental monitoring scenarios. It can also be applied in the water, nutrient solution, and other kinds of substrates where the EC level is needed.
This device incorporates a built-in LoRa transmitter based on SX1276 for long-range transmission, the 3-in-1 sensor, and a custom battery. It is specifically designed and optimized for use cases powering end devices by batteries for years. To minimize the power consumption, the device wakes up, transmits the collected soil moisture and temperature data to the gateway, and then goes back to sleep.

About SenseCAP

SenseCAP is focusing on wireless environmental sensing applications: smart agriculture, precision farming, and smart city, to name a few. It consists of hardware products (sensors, data-loggers & gateways, etc.), software services (SenseCAP portal, mobile App, open dashboard), an API for device & data management.

Under the best of circumstances, the battery is expected to last for more than 6 years, depending on environmental factors and the data transmission intervals. Please kindly note that the default interval is once per hour. If you'd like to change the data upload interval, please refer to this document

To fit in adverse conditions, the LoRaWAN Module is designed with industry standards and equipped with an IP66 waterproof enclosure, protecting the device from UV radiation, rain, and sunlight exposure.

SenseCAP Sensor + Other LoRaWAN Gateway Architecture

Note

Please email sensecap[at]seeed[dot]cc to request any technical support for this product.

Features:

High Performance: high accuracy, reliability, and stability
Enables Data Transmission with LoRaWAN
Compact Design: 3-in-1, soil moisture, temperature, and EC sensor
Industrial-grade Robustness: IP66 rated, suitable for long-term applications.
Strong Anti-interference: made of flame-retardant epoxy resin.
High Durability: anti-corrosion, with excellent performance for long-term use
IP66 Certified
User-friendly: easy to use, install and integrate
Support LoRaWAN protocol Class A
High reliability and stability
Ultra-wide-distance transmission: 10km in the line-of-sight scenes, 2 km in urban scenes
Battery life ≥ 6 years

Technical Details

The device is designed with a fixed LoRa channel, which can not be modified by users. The supported channels are as follows. Please refer to this document for how to connect this device with a LoRaWAN gateway.
Please kindly note the device uses 2nd Sub-Band by default (channels 8 to 15 and 65).

LoRa Channel Plan

Uplink (MHz)

Frequency(MHz): 868.1, 868.3, 868.5, 867.1, 867.3, 867.5, 867.7, 867.9 (SF7BW125 to SF12BW125)

Downlink (MHz)

Multiplexing the frequency points of the 8 uplink channels. 869.525MHz -SF9BW125 (RX2 downlink only)

Specifications:

Soil Temperature:

Range: -40 ℃ to +80 ℃
Accuracy: ±0.5 ℃
Resolution: 0.1 ℃

VWC:

Range: From completely dry to fully saturated (from 0% to 100% of saturation)
Accuracy: ±3% ( 0 to 51 %); ±5% ( 50 to 100 %)
Resolution: 0.1 %(0 to 50%); 0.3%(51 to 100%)
Soil Salinity
Range: 0 to 23000uS/cm
Accuracy:
±5% from 0~7000uS/cm
±15% from 7000~23000uS/cm
Resolution:
10uS/cm(0~7000uS/cm)
50uS/cm(7000~230000uS/cm)

General Parameters

Product Model: LoRa-S-EU868-Soil Temp&VWC&EC-01
Microcontroller: Ultra-low-power MCU
Support Protocol: Based on LoRaWAN v1.0.2 protocol
LoRa Channel Plan: EU868
LoRa Power Output: 16 dBm (EIRP)
Sensitivity: -137.5dBm(SF12, BW125KHz)
Current Consumption:
5 μA (sleep mode)
120 mA max(active mode)
Communication Distance: 2 to 10 km (depending on different antennas and environments)
Measuring Area: A cylinder area (with the probe as the center, diameter: 7cm, height: 7cm)
IP Rating: IP66
UV Resistance: anti-aging (from rain/sun exposure): UL746C F1
Enclosure Material: PC
Operating Temperature: -40 ℃ to +60 ℃
Operating Humidity: 0 to 100%RH (non-condensing)
Device Weight: 385g
Certification: RoHS