journal

1. e-ISSN: 2582-5208
International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science
( Peer-Reviewed, Open Access, Fully Refereed International Journal )
Volume:04/Issue:07/July-2022 Impact Factor- 6.752 www.irjmets.com
www.irjmets.com @International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering, Technology and Science
[4392]
AUTOMATIC WATERING SYSTEM USING SOIL MOISTURE SENSOR
Mrs. Shruthi V*1, Keerthi Kumar M*2, Kusuma IP*3,
Sharath BS*4
*1Assistance Professor, Electronics And Communication Engineering, G Madegowda
Institute Of Technology, Mandya, Karnataka, India.
*2,3,4Student, Electronics And Communication Engineering, G Madegowda Institute Of
Technology, Mandya, Karnataka, India.
ABSTRACT
The efficient irrigation management practices based on the monitoring of the moisture in the soil provide a
great benefit for the appropriate amount of water applied in the fields. This paper presents design and
development of a soil moisture sensor and a response monitoring system. The probes used in this sensor are
made of nickel which is an anti-corrosive and robust material for use in agricultural related applications. The
response monitoring system measure the moisture of the soil, compare it with the desired values given by the
user and generate alert if soil moisture goes below desired value. It helps in problems related to growing of
crops in which irrigation is required at irregular interval. It is also helpful in monitoring of soil moisture in golf
fields.
I. INTRODUCTION
The soil moisture sensor (SMS) is a sensor connected to an irrigation system controller that measures soil
moisture content in the active root zone before each scheduled irrigation event and bypasses the cycle if soil
moisture is above a user- defined set point.
India is a developing nation with a very large population. Due to increasing population, the basic need such as
food and water is increasing day by day. Thus there is a need of saving these resources and utilize them in an
efficient manner. Since water is one of the most important elements in our daily life, thus we must use efficient
ways to utilize water and save it for future generations. One of method is efficient irrigation management
practices for fields.
Irrigation water management practices could greatly benefit by the knowledge of moisture in the soil. To
determine the soil moisture we have designed and developed a nickel probes based soil moisture sensor and a
response monitoring system.
By knowing the moisture value, we can estimate when to water and how much to water the fields so that there
is no over-watering or wilting of crops. These practices will increase crop yield, improve quality of crops,
conserve water resources, save energy, and decrease fertilizer supplies.
II. METHODOLOGY
Fig 1:- Block diagram

2. e-ISSN: 2582-5208
International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science
( Peer-Reviewed, Open Access, Fully Refereed International Journal )
Volume:04/Issue:07/July-2022 Impact Factor- 6.752 www.irjmets.com
www.irjmets.com @International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering, Technology and Science
[4393]
From the A soil moisture sensor as the name indicates is used to determine the moisture present in the soil. The
moisture of the soil depends upon various factors such as type of soil whether its sandy, clay, loam, sandy loam
and salts present in soil such as iron, manganese, calcium, phosphorus, nitrogen, sulphur, etc. it also depends
upon temperature.
Based on the reading of moisture sensor, irrigation is done. Soil moisture sensors can be classified into
following types based on the methods to determine the soil moisture:
A) Soil volumetric water content‐based soil moisture sensors:-These sensors are used to determine the amount
of water present in the soil. VWC can be calculated by mass or volume. It gives output in percent content.
B) Soil water tension‐based soil moisture sensors:- These sensors measure energy of water in the soil. Water
tension is measured in energy/mass of the soil. Units are Joules/kg (J/kg) or kilopascal (kPa). It tells how much
difficult or easy it will be for the plant to extract water soil.
III. COMPONENTS REQUIRED
Arduino uno:- Is a low-power, high-performance CMOS 8-bit microcontroller with 8K bytes of in-system
programmable Flash memory the Atmel AT89S52 is a powerful microcontroller which provides a highly-
flexible and cost-effective solution to many embedded control applications.(Fig 4)
Soil moisture sensor:- Soil moisture sensors measure the water content in the soil and can be used to estimate
the amount of stored water in the soil horizon. Soil moisture sensors do not measure water in the soil directly.
Instead, they measure changes in some other soil property that is related to water content in a predictable way.
Bread board:- The layout of a breadboard allows components to be connected to one another via the columns
and rows. For example, you might have a resistor running from one column to another, which in turn is
connected to an LED. Either end of the circuit could then be connected to the two power terminals.
LED:- A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor light source that emits light when current flows through
it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons
(Energy packets). The color of the light (corresponding to the energy of the photons) is determined by the
energy required for electrons to cross the band gap of the semiconductor. White light is obtained by using
multiple semiconductors or a layer of light-emitting phosphor on the semiconductor device.
Arduino cable:- Cable for Arduino uno/mega is the most common A to B male/male type peripheral USB cable
for arduino. It is compatible with most arduino boards such as arduino mega, uno, arduino duemilanove. Often
used for printers and other peripherals. While still a little bulky in shape for small embedded systems, this is a
standard cable found everywhere. Use this cable with arduino uno and others, but not for arduino leonardo
based boards.
Jumper wires:- The "Jumper wire" redirects here. For wire bridges, see jumper. For fly-wires, see enameled
wire as sown if fig.2.4.1, for patch leads, see patch cable. Stranded 22AWG jump wires with solid tips.
Fig 2:- cicuit connection Fig 3:- Arduino UNO
IV. APPLICATION
 Agriculture:-Measuring soil moisture is important for agricultural applications to help farmers manage
their irrigation systems more efficiently. Knowing the exact soil moisture conditions on their fields, not only

3. e-ISSN: 2582-5208
International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science
( Peer-Reviewed, Open Access, Fully Refereed International Journal )
Volume:04/Issue:07/July-2022 Impact Factor- 6.752 www.irjmets.com
www.irjmets.com @International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering, Technology and Science
[4394]
are farmers able to generally use less water to grow a crop, they are also able to increase yields and the quality
of the crop by improved management of soil moisture during critical plant growth stages.
 Landscape irrigation:-In urban and suburban areas, landscapes and residential lawns are using soil
moisture sensors to interface with an irrigation controller. Connecting a soil moisture sensor to a simple
irrigation clock will convert it into a "smart" irrigation controller that prevents irrigation cycles when the soil is
already wet, e.g. following a recent rainfall event. Golf courses are using soil moisture sensors to increase the
efficiency of their irrigation systems to prevent over-watering and leaching of fertilizers and other chemicals
into the ground.
 Research:-Soil moisture sensors are used in numerous research applications, agriculture e.g. in science and
horticulture including climate planning, science or environmental including copy transport studies and as
auxiliary sensors for soil respiration measurements.
 Simple sensors for gardeners:-Relatively cheap and simple devices that do not require a power source are
available for checking whether plants have sufficient moisture to thrive. After inserting a probe into the soil for
approximately 60 seconds, a meter indicates if the soil is too dry, moist or wet for plants.
V. FUTURE APPLICATION
 It allows the need for irrigation to be quantified in advanced of a crop showing signs of distress.
VI. CONCLUSION
The proposed system provides the efficient and reliable method of irrigation. Due to regular updates of the soil
conditions and environmental factors, it becomes easy to analyze the data and get knowledge about what
amount of water is required at what interval of time in a day. More over in dry areas where there is inadequate
rainfall, the system can efficiently manage water and ensure better yield of crops by precisely watering. The
system reduces human intervention. It enables the farmer to know about the crops and surrounding
environment and control the water pump and monitor the field by accessing the data from anywhere.
VII. REFERENCES
[1] B. V. KRISHNA and K. PRIYANKA, "Soil moisture sensor design for crop management system by using
cellular communication," International Journal of Advanced Research in Electrical, Electronics and
Instrumentation Engineering, vol. 03, no. 10, pp. 1240812414, Oct. 2014
[2] K. S. Sai Ram and A. N. P. S. Gupta, "IoT based Data Logger System for weather monitoring using
Wireless sensor networks," International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology, vol. 32, no. 2,
pp. 7175, Feb. 2016.G. Eason, B. Noble, and I.N. Sneddon, On certain integrals of Lipschitz- Hankel type
involving products of Bessel functions, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, vol. A247, pp. 529-551, April
1955.
[3] Guneet Mander, Mohit Arora, “Design of Capacitive Sensor for Monitoring Moisture Content of
Soil and Analysis of Analog Voltage with Variability in Moisture,” in Proc. RAECS UIET Panjab
University Chandigarh, 06.