# Leveraging LoRaWAN Technology for Precision Agriculture in Greenhouses  
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2 IDLab--Faculty of Applied Engineering, University of Antwerp--imec, Sint-Pietersvliet 7, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.A. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.D.M. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.W. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (R.B.) 1  
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2 IDLab--Faculty of Applied Engineering, University of Antwerp--imec, Sint-Pietersvliet 7, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.A. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.D.M. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.W. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (R.B.) 1  
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Footnote 1: email: {[EMAIL_ADDRESS], [EMAIL_ADDRESS], [EMAIL_ADDRESS], matis.demeyer@uantwerpen. Therefore, there has been continuous research contributions towards enriching WSNs capabilities like communication, sensing and processing power of sensors nodes [4]. Several research contributions have been done regarding PA, mainly in the area of data collection strategies, data analysis, diagnosis of several parameters along with forecasting disease, field operation and evaluation of precision agriculture techniques [3; 5]. The precision agriculture employs a cost-effective management strategy using information technology in two ways: first by identification of spatial variation and addressing appropriate statutory activities. Second, by controlling the usage of weeds, pesticides, and diseases to proliferate crop yield [6]. Greenhouse agriculture and cultivation demand an efficient scheme for controlling microclimate conditions such as temperature, humidity, and gas concentration to maintain the ambient setup for crop cultivation. Greenhouse embellish effectiveness against harsh climates and impediment faced with outdoor cultivation [7] by providing mechanical shields which help in maintaining crop-specific reasonable environmental conditions. The operations in greenhouses depend on the technologies used for controlling climatic parameters, the capacity of greenhouse (shape and dimensions), covering material and its orientation [8]. Ideally, the design structure should keep a uniform climate profile across the greenhouse. However, greenhouse faces a handful of challenges, majorly due to complex structural design scheme [9] as shown in Figure 1. Also, there are other challenges like the design adaptation as per the crop change, impact of metallic structures in greenhouse and the technology used in the greenhouses for PA as listed in Table 1. These challenges have a substantial footprint over the growth of a plant, which necessitates a precise and adaptive monitoring solution. WSNs provide an effective solution for PA but on another side, it requires an efficient strategy in different fundamental aspects like connectivity, type of sensors, power source, and network optimization [4]. different types of sensors and control systems used inside the greenhouse for various use cases like tracking, monitoring and controlling environmental conditions. However, there are some challenges in WSN deployment which has curtailed the real benefits for PA; such as an optimal deployment scheme, maintain coverage and connectivity for required communication range, scalability, and energy-efficient network for long battery life [11]. The sensor nodes are mostly battery powered. Thus, the right selection of low-power sensors and communication network is imperative for PA. Most of the solutions used Zigbee [12] to transmit data, but a trade-off must be made between scalability and reliability. Also, a major disadvantage is the relatively short transmission range of 100 m, which is not well suited for large greenhouses [12]. LPWANs are best suited wireless communication for PA in greenhouses due to their low power consumption and long communication distance [13]. One of the promising protocols in this scope is LoRaWAN [14]. This protocol uses Long-Range (LoRa) modulation [15] in its physical layer and features a low data rate with low complexity and long coverage.