Quantifying Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Agricultural Lands Using a Mesh Network of Printed Soil Sensors

Carol Baumbauer, Lucas Lahann, Titan Yuan, Tyler L. Anthony, Whendee L. Silver, Ana C. Arias

Research output: Contribution to conferencePresentation

Abstract

Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas nearly 300 times more potent than CO2, and agricultural soils are the largest source of N2O emissions. However, N2O emissions are difficult to quantify due to their high degree of spatial and temporal variability. Existing measurement techniques, such cavity ring down spectroscopy, do not capture the spatial heterogeneity of N2O emissions because their high cost prohibits high density deployment.

N2O is produced through several biogeochemical pathways, each of which is controlled by key drivers. Previous studies have demonstrated that measurements of the drivers can be used in computer models to predict N2O production with high accuracy.

We are developing a network of printed wireless sensors which could be widely distributed across an agricultural field to measure many drivers of N2O production: nitrate, ammonium, pH, moisture, O2, denitrifying microbial activity, and temperature. These sensors are fabricated using solution processing techniques compatible with roll-to-roll processing, enabling manufacturing at scale. We are integrating the sensors with a CMOS integrated circuit specifically designed for low-cost and low-power IoT applications to create “SmartStakes”. The chips, known as Single Chip Micro Motes for their small size and all-in-one functionality, can read the sensors and form a mesh network using OpenWSN, an open source wireless networking protocol based on IEEE standards. Highlights of the current generation of SmartStakes include printed potentiometric chemical sensors with detection range between 1 and 1500 ppm nitrate (N-NO3) and drift of about 10 mV over 30 days in soil. Additionally, we have characterized temperature sensors between 0-45 C; these printed sensors are reproducible and can be easily integrated with other sensors. We have demonstrated SmartStakes wirelessly transmitting data from a printed sensor over a distance of a few meters in a corn field.

SmartStakes will provide valuable information for scientists studying nitrogen cycling and to farmers managing fertilizer usage for high yield and efficiency.
Original languageAmerican English
StatePublished - 14 Dec 2023
Externally publishedYes
EventAGU23 - San Francisco, CA
Duration: 14 Dec 2023 → …

Conference

ConferenceAGU23
Period14/12/23 → …

EGS Disciplines

  • Electrical and Computer Engineering

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