Precision Data Collection for Enhanced Agricultural and Environmental Monitoring Using LoRa Communication

The demand for remote environmental monitoring has significantly increased, particularly in agriculture, urban planning, and industrial automation. Conventional data communication technologies such as Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and ZigBee suffer from limitations such as short-range coverage and high-power consumption, making them unsuitable for large open fields and remote locations. This paper presents an innovative approach that integrates LoRa communication technology with drone-based data collection to address these limitations. The proposed system minimizes power consumption by utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to gather data from wireless sensor nodes. A sensor network, equipped with a Digital Humidity and Temperature Sensor (DHT11), records environmental parameters such as temperature and humidity. The collected data is transmitted over a LoRa network operating at 433 MHz, where a drone-mounted receiver module captures the information during flight. Upon returning to the base station, the UAV either transmits the data to the cloud or relays it to a LoRa gateway for further processing. This method is expected to achieve both low power consumption and long-range data transmission, offering an efficient alternative to conventional direct data transmission techniques. Furthermore, the system includes a prototype incorporating a sensor network, LoRa communication, and drone-based data acquisition. The results will demonstrate the effectiveness of using UAVs to reduce power consumption while maintaining reliable data collection and transmission, making it a viable solution for real-time environmental monitoring.