SENSIRRIKA - Advanced sensor systems for precision irrigation in karst landscape

Project Summary

First part of the research aims to development of an advanced electromagnetic (EM) karst soil moisture sensor.

Second part of the research refers to cost-effective sensors for plant water balance monitoring that need to be densely deployed due to high within-field variability of soil. The sensors are ultra low power and use energy harvesting. They form wireless sensor network providing sensor data integration over field area. The network uses open communication technologies enabling scalability and upgrading.

In third part of the research data from a field demonstrator are agronomically validated.

In this project we will use our expertise in irrigation of karst; modelling of EM soil properties and design of advanced EM sensors; application of wireless sensor networks in agriculture; and design of ultra low power sensor interfaces, energy harvesting systems and networked embedded systems. We will demonstrate the developed system in field and transfer the knowledge and experiences to professional community and industry.

Project Duration

The project duration is from March 1^st 2017 to February 28^th 2021.

Project Team

Vedran Bilas, Principal Investigator, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing
Guido D'Urso, Researcher, University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy
Sabine Rosner, Researcher, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Siences, Vienna, Austria
Emile Martincic, Reseracher, Centre de Nanosciences et de Nanotechnologies, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, France
Darko Vasić, Researcher, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing
Monika Zovko, Researcher, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture
Hrvoje Džapo, Researcher, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing
Dinko Oletić, Postdoctoral fellow, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing
Davorin Ambruš, Researcher, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing
Marko Gazivoda, Doctoral student, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing

Acknowledgment

This research project has been fully supported by Croatian Science Foundation under the project IP-2016-06-8379.

Contact

Professor Vedran Bilas

University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing

FER-ZESOI, Unska 3, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia

tel: + 385 1 612 9974

e-mail: vedran (dot) bilas (at) fer (dot) hr

Seminar: Current development of Earth Observation techniques for monitoring and management of agroforestry systems

Profesor Guido D'urso, Universita' degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, will give talk on

Current development of Earth Observation techniques for monitoring and management of agroforestry systems

on Friday, January 24^th at 10:00 AM in D160 at FER.

Guests are very welcome!

During recent years there has been much progress in understanding land surface-atmosphere processes and their parameterisation in the management of land and water resources. Earth Observations techniques in different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum have been used for more than three decades to monitor land surface. Nowadays, these techniques are ready for being transferred to operative applications in the field of land and water engineering, and especially for the management of water resources in agriculture. In the same time, technological developments of new generation of remote sensors – with improved spatial and/or temporal resolution- provide the opportunity for new observational and modelling perspectives.

In this work, a brief overview of current techniques and recent developments for the management of water resources in agriculture experienced by the University of Naples “Federico II” will be given, with particular emphasis to the following issues:

- estimation of land surface parameters, i.e. biomass, Leaf Area Index, soil water content;

- estimation of water balance terms, i.e. evapotranspiration and crop water requirements.

New techniques in the acquisition and processing of Earth Observation data may improve the accuracy of estimation of these parameters and terms, with great benefits for a better understanding and analysis of land and water resources.

Examples of operational applications and the involvement of ICTs for the distribution of information products will be described.

Keywords: Earth Observation satellites, water resources, evapotranspiration, Leaf Area Index.

2020-01-20

Author: Vedran Bilas

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