Analysis of Environment and Physiological Data of Citrus Orchards by Using Field Server

Abstract

Soil moisture management based on the growth of citrus trees and environmental condition in orchards is the key to producing high-quality citrus fruits. Aiming for optimum irrigation management in citrus orchards, we have developed a Sensor Net–Farming System (SN-Farming System) by using Field Servers to monitor tree growth and environmental condition in orchards for a long term. The Field Servers are equipped with sensors, network camera, and wireless LAN module. By using the Field Server, we measured the moisture content of soil and tree, the temperature of air, soil, and tree stem, solar radiation, humidity, CO2 concentration, and took pictures of citrus. As a result, we observed that: 1) the deeper the soil layer, the soil temperature become lower ; 2) the moisture content of tree stem and CO2 concentration in tree showed a diurnal variation, being low in the daytime and recovering at night. These findings suggest the feasibility of Field Servers for optimum irrigation management of citrus orchards based on physiological and environment data.