A DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE OF AN INTERNET OF THINGS PLATFORM TO MONITOR SITE-SPECIFIC WEATHER CONDITIONS AT THE FARM LEVEL

This article describes the design, deployment, and evaluation of an Internet of Things (IoT) platform to monitor site-specific weather conditions at the farm level using wireless sensor networks (WSN). A distributed mesh network of sensor nodes was developed using open-source software and hardware tools to monitor temperature and relative humidity in-field environmental conditions. The IoT prototype was tested at the University of Florida's research farm. Data from the sensor nodes were compared to a Florida Automated Weather Network weather station. The results of this study will contribute to the implementation of site-specific collection tools and with site-specific decision management in specialty crop production systems. A significant advantage of IoT and WSN over a standalone weather station is the capability to monitor micro-weather conditions that may lead to site-specific management operations.

Automated summary

This article discusses the design, deployment, and evaluation of an IoT platform to monitor site-specific weather conditions on farms using WSN. A distributed network of sensor nodes was developed to monitor temperature and humidity in-field conditions, contributing to site-specific decision management in specialty crop production systems. IoT and WSN offer advantages over standalone weather stations in monitoring micro-weather conditions for site-specific management operations.