TRANSCEND ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY, LLC — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase I: 8.4

Description

Project SummaryIrrigation Management Using Novel Low-Cost High-ResolutionSensing for Increased AdoptionPrincipal Investigator Farrington Stephen P PEEmail sfarrington@transcendengineering.comMobile 802-431-3456Office 802-788-4154Organization Transcend Engineering and Technology LLCAddress 768 S Main St Unit 2Bethel VT 05032UEI LDEPJ8PF15P4DUNS 831763276Through our work with researchers and growers we have found that cost is the mostsignificant barrier to adopting high-resolution soil water monitoring needed tomeaningfully reduce agricultural water consumption. We previously developedpatented and commercialized an innovation using Time Domain Reflectometry thatquantifies in situ soil water content in highly resolved spatial profile providing greatlyimproved understanding of the distribution and fate of applied water as a function of theirrigation schedule but cost has been a barrier to adoption. The recent massiveproliferation of wireless accessories has driven the cost of integrated circuit-basedprogrammable RF transceivers unprecedentedly low and their usabilityunprecedentedly high.Phase I of this proposed project will determine if it is feasible to base the design andoperation of a spatially dense multi-level soil moisture sensor around the exploitation ofcommodity RF electronic components to infer soil water content from soil dielectricproperties. The work also seeks to quantify the tradeoffs of accuracy and cost that theapproach presents. Phase-II work would build the algorithmic basis for a decisionsupport system the framework for which is under commercial development.A hyper-advanced decision support system is under development by ourcommercialization partners. Incorporating our resulting sensing innovation will span the"adoption gap" from data to insights to data driven recommendations and decisions.The result will be unprecedented efficiency in the management and conservation ofwater used in irrigated agriculture with concomitant benefits for soil health andgroundwater quality leading to greater sustainability.(246 words)