FPGA-based Fused Smart Sensor for Real-Time Plant-Transpiration Dynamic Estimation

Abstract

Plant transpiration is considered one of the most important physiological functions because it constitutes the plants evolving adaptation to exchange moisture with a dry atmosphere which can dehydrate or eventually kill the plant. Due to the importance of transpiration, accurate measurement methods are required; therefore, a smart sensor that fuses five primary sensors is proposed which can measure air temperature, leaf temperature, air relative humidity, plant out relative humidity and ambient light. A field programmable gate array based unit is used to perform signal processing algorithms as average decimation and infinite impulse response filters to the primary sensor readings in order to reduce the signal noise and improve its quality. Once the primary sensor readings are filtered, transpiration dynamics such as: transpiration, stomatal conductance, leaf-air-temperature-difference and vapor pressure deficit are calculated in real time by the smart sensor. This permits the user to observe different primary and calculated measurements at the same time and the relationship between these which is very useful in precision agriculture in the detection of abnormal conditions. Finally, transpiration related stress conditions can be detected in real time because of the use of online processing and embedded communications capabilities.

Technology Roadmapping Architecture Based on Knowledge Management: Case Study for Improved Indigenous Coffee Production from Guerrero, Mexico

“…An example of technology that can be employed in the roadmap of the aforementioned study is the employment of some elicitors to increase significantly the levels of flavonoids in lettuce [39]; this compound is presented when the plants suffer drought. The increase of flavonoid levels is directly related to the drought tolerance which can be measured by using sensors for monitoring plant physiology such as that presented by [40] where a transpiration of plants is measured by employing temperature, humidity, radiation, and flux sensors. As aforementioned, the water scarcity is now a problem; so, the rain water collected in greenhouses is an option to save water, and it has been successfully employed for growing vegetables [41].…”

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