The effect of soil water content and crop canopy on passive UHF-RFID wireless links

Carol L. Baumbauer; David A. Baumbauer; Ana C. Arias

doi:10.1016/j.compag.2025.110506

The effect of soil water content and crop canopy on passive UHF-RFID wireless links

Carol L. Baumbauer, David A. Baumbauer, Ana C. Arias

Electrical Engineering Department

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

High spatial density agricultural sensors that monitor soil fertility and moisture levels are quickly developing and could revolutionize precision agriculture once they are integrated with wireless communication systems. Passive Ultra High Frequency Radio Frequency Identification (UHF-RFID) is a wireless communication protocol for battery-free sensor nodes which could enable continuous soil monitoring. Soil texture, soil water content, and crop canopy impact the vertical read range between a passive RFID tag near the soil and a reader raised above the crop. Here, we evaluated these impacts and found that increases in soil water content decreased read range by 30–40 cm compared to dry soil. Adding 3.4 cm of distance between the wet soil and the tag increased the read range by 1–1.4 m. Crop canopy did not have a significant impact on read range once the soil water content had been accounted for.

Original language	English
Article number	110506
Journal	Computers and Electronics in Agriculture
Volume	237
Issue number	Part A
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2025.110506
State	Published - Oct 2025

Keywords

Agriculture IoT
Antennas
RFID
Wireless communication

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10.1016/j.compag.2025.110506

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title = "The effect of soil water content and crop canopy on passive UHF-RFID wireless links",

abstract = "High spatial density agricultural sensors that monitor soil fertility and moisture levels are quickly developing and could revolutionize precision agriculture once they are integrated with wireless communication systems. Passive Ultra High Frequency Radio Frequency Identification (UHF-RFID) is a wireless communication protocol for battery-free sensor nodes which could enable continuous soil monitoring. Soil texture, soil water content, and crop canopy impact the vertical read range between a passive RFID tag near the soil and a reader raised above the crop. Here, we evaluated these impacts and found that increases in soil water content decreased read range by 30–40 cm compared to dry soil. Adding 3.4 cm of distance between the wet soil and the tag increased the read range by 1–1.4 m. Crop canopy did not have a significant impact on read range once the soil water content had been accounted for.",

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AU - Arias, Ana C.

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N2 - High spatial density agricultural sensors that monitor soil fertility and moisture levels are quickly developing and could revolutionize precision agriculture once they are integrated with wireless communication systems. Passive Ultra High Frequency Radio Frequency Identification (UHF-RFID) is a wireless communication protocol for battery-free sensor nodes which could enable continuous soil monitoring. Soil texture, soil water content, and crop canopy impact the vertical read range between a passive RFID tag near the soil and a reader raised above the crop. Here, we evaluated these impacts and found that increases in soil water content decreased read range by 30–40 cm compared to dry soil. Adding 3.4 cm of distance between the wet soil and the tag increased the read range by 1–1.4 m. Crop canopy did not have a significant impact on read range once the soil water content had been accounted for.

AB - High spatial density agricultural sensors that monitor soil fertility and moisture levels are quickly developing and could revolutionize precision agriculture once they are integrated with wireless communication systems. Passive Ultra High Frequency Radio Frequency Identification (UHF-RFID) is a wireless communication protocol for battery-free sensor nodes which could enable continuous soil monitoring. Soil texture, soil water content, and crop canopy impact the vertical read range between a passive RFID tag near the soil and a reader raised above the crop. Here, we evaluated these impacts and found that increases in soil water content decreased read range by 30–40 cm compared to dry soil. Adding 3.4 cm of distance between the wet soil and the tag increased the read range by 1–1.4 m. Crop canopy did not have a significant impact on read range once the soil water content had been accounted for.

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KW - Antennas

KW - RFID

KW - Wireless communication

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JO - Computers and Electronics in Agriculture

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IS - Part A

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The effect of soil water content and crop canopy on passive UHF-RFID wireless links

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Keywords

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