Smart Irrigation System with Low-Power WSNs for Sustainable Water Management in Agriculture

As global water scarcity and agricultural demands intensify, the need for efficient irrigation systems becomes paramount. This paper presents an irrigation system utilizing a wireless sensor network (WSN) to optimize water management in agriculture. The system incorporates soil moisture, humidity, and temperature sensors connected to a Mini ESP32 S2 microcontrollers at the end-device nodes and ESP32 microcontrollers at the sink node. These sensors enable real-time data collection, analysis, and automated irrigation control based on environmental conditions, enhancing water conservation and crop productivity. The WSN uses the ESP-NOW communication protocol, ensuring reliable data transmission and secure, low-power operation in challenging environments. The system's low energy consumption is a key feature, with the end-device nodes achieving an average power consumption of 0.57 mA/h, powered by a 8800 mAh battery, providing a projected operational autonomy of 647 days. The results demonstrate that this intelligent system can significantly reduce water wastage while maintaining optimal soil conditions for crops, making it a sustainable solution for precision agriculture.