Smart applications are becoming more prevalent in big cities and urban environments and in the countryside as well. Smart agriculture brings state-of-the-art technology to an industry where the plow and sickle have ruled for thousands of years.
In northwest Spain, wine growers of the Rias Baixas region are bucking traditional practices thanks to a government investment in Smart Viticulture that allowed multinational consultancy Idom to bring Libelium’s Waspmote wireless sensor devices into the vineyards to address environmental conditions and improve environment-related management. The results are emblematic of how wireless sensor networks can improve many aspects of our lives via technological data acquisition that leads to informed decision making.
Figure 1: Albariño is a variety of white wine grape grown in Galicia, in northwest Spain
Introduction
Most wine connoisseurs have heard of Galicia’s Rias Baixas region in northwestern Spain. It’s where the white Albariño grape grows prominently, and it’s helped make Rias Baixas an important Denomination of Origin
The project was designed to benefit growers by enhancing grape quality and production. Partnering with Libelium on the Smart Viticulture project in Rias Baixas enabled
Figure 2: Map of the wine-producing region of Rias Baixas in Galicia
The project
Agriculture and viticulture in the region
The international engineering company
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Deployment Sequence
The equipment for the Rias Baixas project included three Meshlium wireless gateways, and a dozen Waspmote nodes equipped with sensors to measure temperature, ambient humidity, soil moisture and leaf wetness, in real time. Meshlium’s job is to gather all the data from the sensor nodes and send it to the Cloud through a 3G or Ethernet connection; Waspmote integrates GPS to deliver accurate position and time information.
First, the Meshlium gateways were installed, defining sensor zones within the vineyard. This was followed by the deployment and calibration of the Waspmote sensor nodes, starting with the mote located closest to a Meshlium and finishing on the point farthest away.
Figure 3: Schematic of the Smart Viticulture solution
Figure 4: The Agriculture Sensor Board for Waspmote integrates the sensors that measure a variety of environmental factors.
Figure 5: Waspmote Sensor Platform
Figure 6: Waspmote and Meshlium in the vineyard
Once the base system was deployed, an end-user application was developed to allow control of the system from anywhere connected to the Internet and a statistical prediction model was created to correlate weather conditions with the onset of disease in the vineyard.
Figure 7: The smartphone end-user application allows control anywhere.
Positive Results
In the end, growers of the Rias Baixas region were able to deploy and use a Smart Agriculture production system that generates key environmental data for vineyards and wineries and allows them to make informed decisions. The whole system includes these components:
- Environmental data-capturing network to measure leaf precipitation, atmospheric humidity, and soil temperature and moisture.
Ad-hoc statistical model able to transform data information and account for pathogen evolution and infection risk to Albariño vines.Data center where data could be aggregated and processed into a reviewable online platform that displayed key information concerning viticulture production of interest to both wine growers and wineries.- A unique communications channel where the various users—wine growers and viticulture technicians, and others in the field—became valuable information sources, and made the system “smarter” with more frequent use.
The project launched in 2012 and has quickly proved a success. From a pool of approximately 1,000 wine growers, about 400 became habitual users during its first year.
Figure 8: Old vines and new technology existing side by side.
Eduardo Diaz believes that the data acquisition platform created using Libelium’s Waspmote proved a sound investment in Rias Baixas and is something other wine growing regions should investigate, even without subsidies. Smart Agriculture is a great use of wireless sensor networks, and demonstrates how to apply technology to a resource-intensive problem.
The Smart Viticulture project’s benefits in terms of better productivity, costs reduction, and improved management are catching the attention of wineries and agricultural co-ops. Idom is already in discussion with private organizations in the industry interested in taking advantage of such a platform themselves.
Figure 9: Rias Baixas Vineyard
The Future of Smart Applications
Sensor technology can play a key role in many types of projects, from mobility to energy efficiency to environmental sustainability. The Waspmote sensor devices used in the Rias Baixas Smart Viticulture project were praised for their installation ability and the ease at which they could be configured. In traditional forms of industry, like agriculture, where technology can often be a foreign concept, the simplicity to effectively deploy such devices is greatly appreciated.
For Smart Agriculture, Waspmote Plug & Sense! sensor nodes can detect, monitor, and inform on a wide number of agricultural issues, such as soil moisture and temperature; leaf wetness; atmospheric pressure; solar radiation; wind speed; ambient temperature; humidity; rainfall; and many other relevant purposes. Libelium has developed Plug & Sense pre-configured sensor devices for a variety of industries and applications, including Smart Cities, Smart Parking, Smart Environment, Smart Metering, and Smart Security.
Beyond the vineyards, Smart Agriculture has a host of applications—from regulated irrigation on golf courses to monitoring and controlling climate conditions and mitigating greenhouse gases. Libelium is addressing every possibility.
Figure 10: Waspmote Plug and Sense! Smart Agriculture node resides in a waterproof IP65 enclosure with external sockets to attach sensor probes.
Related Links:
- Albariño
- Rias Baixas
- IDOM
- Waspmote
- Meshlium
- Smart Agriculture Board
- Waspmote Plug and Sense! Smart Agriculture
- Rias Baixas winegrowers discuss their experience
About the Author
Javier Martinez is the Chief Sales and Business Development Officer at Libelium. His specialty is in the implementation of hardware and technology for wireless sensor networks as well as standard platforms for the Internet of Things, Smart Cities, and M2M solutions.
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As published in Sensors Mag
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References:
- Article from Libelium.com