An intelligent plant watering decision support system for drought monitoring & analysis based on AIoT and an LSTM time-series framework

• Developed an AIoT-enabled decision support system for precision irrigation management. • Using LSTM-based AI models, achieved 97–98 % accuracy in water stress detection. • Integrated PCA for dimensionality reduction of high-dimensional physiological datasets. • Utilised hyperspectral and point cloud data for robust crop water stress prediction. • Improved irrigation efficiency to promote sustainable agriculture under drought stress. Climate change has increased the severity of droughts, threatening global agricultural productivity. The implementation of information technology for enhancing smart agriculture has proven its great potential for supporting precision agriculture that can provide crops with the ability to defend themselves against environmental threats. Rice, which is a staple food crop in tropical and subtropical regions, is particularly sensitive to water stress during its critical growth stages. This study therefore focused on Tainung No. 67 rice, known for its drought resistance, to develop an intelligent AIoT-based plant watering decision support system. The proposed system aims to optimise water use and enhance agricultural resilience by integrating real-time monitoring, AI-driven analysis, and automated irrigation. Data were collected using hyperspectral imaging, point cloud analysis, and physiological indicators (measured by the LI-600 device), providing a comprehensive time-series dataset for model training. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to reduce data dimensionality, and an LSTM-based AI framework was used to predict water stress severity. Experimental results showed high accuracy for all datasets, with the AI model achieving 97 % accuracy for point cloud data and 98 % accuracy for hyperspectral imagery. Scenarios with mixed missing data further validated the practicality and robustness of the system. This research highlights the potential to address drought-related challenges in agriculture through the integration of IoT, AI and advanced sensing technologies. The system not only optimises irrigation strategies but also contributes to sustainable farming practices through the preservation of water resources.