Patent ID: 8862277

Claim:
A method for automatic irrigation threshold setting, the method comprising: measuring a dynamic response of soil moisture of a soil area under a fully saturated environment; deducing at least one of a plurality of soil/landscape properties comprising field capacity, water infiltration rates, presence of thick organic surface areas; producing at least one of a plurality of recommendations for management practices comprising aeration, thatch removal, soil amendment; detecting at least one of a plurality of irrigation system deficiencies comprising broken sprinkler heads, drip lines, and poor spatial coverage; setting a threshold for the soil area based on the measurements of the dynamic response; and monitoring the dynamic response of soil moisture over a predetermined time period; wherein measuring the dynamic response is performed by a system comprising a plurality of wireless sub-soil sensors, a smart irrigation controller in communication with each of the plurality of wireless sub-soil sensors, wherein the smart irrigation controller comprises a housing, a microcontroller, a radiofrequency antenna, a memory, a display and a power supply; wherein the smart irrigation controller suspends scheduled watering if the soil moisture is above the threshold; wherein the smart irrigation controller continues monitoring the soil moisture level to determine if the soil moisture level has dropped below the threshold; wherein the smart irrigation controller returns to scheduled watering once the soil moisture level is below the threshold; wherein the smart irrigation controller can only interrupt a scheduled watering and not commence a scheduled watering.