09/30/2003

New Technology Puts Real-Time Ag. Data on the Web

Writer:

Candace Pollock
pollock.58@osu.edu
(614)292-3799

Source:

Reza Ehsani
ehsani.2@osu.edu
(614)292-2540

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Can’t decide which field to plant first in the spring? Log on to the Internet. Taking a winter vacation in Florida and want to check on your grain storage? Hop on to the Web. Want to know how polluted the local river is? Go to the Internet for answers.

Japanese technology, with further development and analyses by Ohio State University agricultural engineering researchers, is making it possible for farmers, researchers, Extension specialists, environmentalists, greenhouse managers and the like, to collect, analyze and disseminate real-time data through an Internet-based data collecting, networking and storage system.

Known as a Field Monitoring Server (FMS), it’s the first technology of its kind to download real-time data directly to the Internet for a user’s access.

“Collecting and storing data in-field is nothing new,” said Reza Ehsani, an Ohio State precision agriculture state specialist. “But the ability to put real-time wireless data on the Internet at a low-cost — now that’s a new thing.”

Ehsani is a member of the evaluation team at Ohio State, who has taken on the task of further developing and finding new applications for the technology. Ohio State is among only a few universities globally that are working on this project. The system, developed by the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC) in Japan, is expected to be commercially available next year.

The system has a variety of components, including a field monitor that can be equipped with sensors to pick up environmental data, such as soil temperature, air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and solar radiation, as well as a wireless LAN card for Internet access. The system also contains a base station, which includes a wireless access point and a router that collects the data from the FMS and places the information on the Internet. The information can then be accessed from anywhere in the world.

Ehsani said the uses for FMS are endless.

“We plan to measure air quality in animal facilities, monitor the pollution in water, monitor plant health and growth rate in greenhouses, even access real-time field data from another country,” he said. The equipment can also monitor and control diseases, aid in water management, create virtual labs for educational purposes, as well as provide surveillance and traceability for safety and security purposes with a simple camera installation.

FMS comes with a variety of technological advantages. Commercially available sensors can be attached to the monitor to perform various functions, such as installing a radiometer to monitor plant health. The system is also compatible with computer technology already on the market so it can be updated as fast as the technology is updated. One of the biggest advantages is the cost. Currently each field monitor costs about $350, with an entire system running anywhere between $500-$600. But once the system goes commercial, developers anticipate the price to drop.

Of course, with benefits also come disadvantages, said Ehsani. One drawback is the 350-meter range (or two-tenths of a mile) between the monitor and the base station. “But that range can easily be extended with the purchase of a wireless signal booster or by using a network of multiple field monitors,” he said. The system also requires broadband access to the Internet if used for non-local purposes.

The system was recently demonstrated to participants at Farm Science Review at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center in London, Ohio.