INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT) APPLICATIONS USING THE LORAWAN PROTOCOL FOR MONITORING IRRIGATED LAND
Authors: Kovalchuk V. P. , Matіash T. V. , Knysh V. V. , Voitovich O. P. , Kruchenyuk A. V. 
Published: February 2020

The article analyzes available information on the application of the Internet of Things (IoT) for agriculture. It is pointed out that for large areas remote from cities and power supply sources for fields and farms, the construction of traditional communication channels is expensive enough, and classical mobile technologies for solving business problems are only partially suitable. Therefore, the article analyzes the practical approaches to using the Internet of Things (IoT) to monitor irrigated lands. The possibility of connecting soil moisture, temperature, pressure, direction and speed wind sensors based on LoRaWAN protocol to Internet gateways (base stations) without payment for cellular communication, additional power supply, deployment of complex Wi-Fi networks in the field was studied. Practical results on the characteristics of the sensors in the field, setting up a guaranteed LoRaWAN base station (gateway) connection, technical characteristics and causes of possible equipment malfunction were obtained. That is, the purpose of the study was to develop a budget solution for practical research and use of the Internet of Things (IoT) using the LoRaWAN protocol to monitor weather and soil moisture on irrigated lands. Among the main results of the study are the following. Equipment features and the specifics of sensors allocation and their terrain settings based on LoRaWAN protocol were studied, in particular: technical characteristics (operating frequencies, material, length, connection types and antenna placement height, radio signal transmission range and quality); use of different power sources (different types of batteries and solar panels surfaces); features of field operation (possible interference with radio signal propagation, dependence on the effect of pests, temperature fluctuations); encryption when exchanging data. A budget solution for monitoring meteorological indicators, soil moisture on irrigated lands was developed. A wireless monitoring network based on the LoRaWAN protocol was deployed in the irrigated fields of the SE ES of Askaniye of Kakhovsky District State in the Kherson region, consisting of 1 base station and 5 terminal units up to 2 km away. It was found that LoRa technology enables to control the channel expansion coefficient by determining the data transmitted over a period of time. It is determined that for the successful operation of wireless systems, an important issue is the proper radio planning and designing solutions for specific customer tasks. When deploying wireless networks, basic requirements for the reliability of the base stations and terminal units were identified and investigated. The developed budget solution for practical research and application of the Internet of Things (IoT) using the LoRaWAN protocol was compared with the Pessl Instruments GmbH and Davis Instruments Co brand developments to monitor weather, soil moisture on irrigated lands were. Among the most important findings are the development of a budget solution for monitoring meteorological indicators, soil moisture on irrigated lands consisting of 1 base station (gateway) of and 5 terminal units (monitoring stations). The coverage area of the base station with a base antenna for LoRaWAN was 0.6 km, with augmented and refined antenna - 2 km. Sensor data is advisable to transmit in 30-40 bytes per a send, with an expansion factor of SF = 12 without loss of quality. The best signal quality was ensured in the line of sight from the base station to the monitoring station.