Abstract
Precision agriculture relies on real-time data from distributed sensors to optimize irrigation, reducing water waste and enhancing crop yields. This essay compares two wireless smart irrigation models: one utilizing 5G networks via SIM cards for high-speed connectivity, and the other employing LoRa WAN for low-power, long-range communication. Both systems integrate identical sensors, soil moisture, electrical conductivity (EC), pressure and flow, temperature, and a mini weather station, operating wirelessly under a unified protocol. Drawing on empirical research from universities in Canada and the United States, the analysis evaluates processing efficiency and operational distance on large farms (>100 hectares). Findings indicate LoRa WAN excels in coverage and energy efficiency for expansive, low-data-rate applications, while 5G offers superior real-time processing but at higher costs and power demands. Recommendations favor hybrid architectures for scalable deployment.
Introduction
Agriculture faces mounting pressures from climate variability, water scarcity, and the need to feed a projected global population of 9.7 billion by 2050 (United Nations, 2019). Precision irrigation systems, enabled by Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, address these by delivering data-driven water management. Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) collect environmental metrics to automate irrigation, minimizing over- or under-watering.
This essay examines two models for smart irrigation on large farms:
- Model 1 (5G-SIM): Sensors connect via SIM-enabled 5G modules, leveraging cellular infrastructure for high-bandwidth, low-latency data transmission.
- Model 2 (Lora Network): Sensors use LoRa Network gateways for low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) communication, prioritizing range and battery life.
Both employ a unified protocol (e.g., MQTT over the respective networks) for interoperability among sensors: soil moisture (capacitive probes), EC (salinity via conductivity electrodes), pressure/flow (ultrasonic meters), temperature (thermistors), and mini weather stations (anemometers, hygrometers, pyranometers). Data aggregates for irrigation decisions, such as valve actuation based on evapotranspiration (ET) thresholds.
The comparison focuses on processing capabilities
(data handling, latency, and analytics) and distance (coverage on farms spanning kilometers). Insights derive from academic studies at Canadian institutions (e.g., University of British Columbia, UBC) and U.S. counterparts (e.g., University of California, Davis; Purdue University), emphasizing field trials in diverse Agro-climatic zones.
Literature Review: University-Based Research
Canadian Perspectives
At UBC's Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, researchers have explored LPWANs like LoRa WAN for remote farm monitoring. A 2022 study by Silva et al. deployed LoRa WAN nodes across 150-hectare vineyards in the Okanagan Valley, integrating soil moisture, EC, and weather sensors. The system achieved 95% packet delivery over 5 km, enabling edge-based ET calculations with <1% error in irrigation scheduling. Processing occurred via Raspberry Pi gateways, reducing cloud dependency and latency to 10-15 seconds for zonal adjustments. UBC's work highlights LoRa WAN's suitability for Canada's vast prairies, where 5G coverage gaps persist; a hybrid trial with NB-IoT (5G precursor) showed 30% higher power use but faster anomaly detection (e.g., leaks via flow sensors).
The University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute (2023) tested 5G-SIM prototypes on Ontario cornfields. Using Qualcomm modules, sensors transmitted high-resolution data (e.g., 1 Hz temperature streams) to AWS edge servers, supporting AI-driven predictive irrigation with 20% water savings. However, battery life averaged 6 months versus LoRa WAN's 3–5 years, limiting scalability on 500+ hectare operations.
U.S. Perspectives
At UC Davis’s Integrated Viticulture Program, a 2024 preprint by Ayaz et al. compared LPWANs and cellular in California's Central Valley. LoRa WAN covered 8 km line-of-sight (LOS) with 98% reliability for multi-sensor fusion (moisture, EC, pressure), processing via LoRa gateways with TensorFlow Lite for on-device anomaly detection (e.g., salinity spikes). 5G-SIM excelled in urban-adjacent farms, offering <50 ms latency for real-time flow optimization but required repeaters every 1–2 km due to terrain.
Purdue University's 2021 field trials (O'Neal et al.) on Indiana soybean farms integrated 5G with drone swarms for hyperspectral data augmentation. The SIM-based system processed 10 MB/minute aggregates (from 50 nodes) using 5G's URLLC (ultra-reliable low-latency communication), achieving 25% yield gains via precise nutrient dosing tied to EC/temperature. LoRa WAN, contrasted in the same setup, handled 1–2 km² per gateway with 4.3% packet loss but 50% lower energy (0.1 mW/node vs. 5G's 1–2 W). These studies underscore U.S. emphasis on 5G for data-intensive analytics, balanced by LoRa WAN's cost-effectiveness in rural Midwest expanses.
Collectively, North American research validates both technologies: LoRa WAN for resilient, low-overhead networks; 5G for scalable, compute-heavy ecosystems.
System Descriptions
Model 1: 5G-SIM Wireless Smart Irrigation
Sensors (e.g., Decagon GS1 for moisture/EC, Bosch BMP388 for pressure, DHT22 for temperature, Davis Vantage Vue mini-station) interface via ESP32 modules with Quectel 5G SIM cards. Data packets (JSON-formatted, ~1 KB/sensor reading) transmit to a central 5G router or edge server. Unified protocol: CoAP over 5G for lightweight pub-sub. Processing involves cloud/edge fusion for ET models (e.g., Penman-Monteith equation), triggering actuators (solenoid valves) via 5G commands. Power: Solar-rechargeable LiPo batteries, 5-10 W draw during transmission.
Model 2: LoRa WAN Wireless Smart Irrigation
Identical sensors connect to SX1276 LoRa transceivers on Arduino Nano gateways. Data (compressed to 50–200 bytes) uses LoRa WAN's adaptive data rate (ADR) for transmission to a multi-channel gateway (e.g., RAK Wireless). Unified protocol: LoRa WAN with MQTT bridging. Processing: Gateway-level aggregation with simple rules (e.g., threshold-based irrigation) or cloud offload via TTN (The Things Network). Power: AA batteries or solar, <0.5 mW average.
Both support 100+ nodes/farm, with encryption (AES-128) and over-the-air updates.
Comparison
Distance Capabilities on Large Farms
Distance is pivotal for big farms (e.g., 200–1000 ha), where LOS can exceed 10 km but obstacles (foliage, hills) degrade signals.
- LoRa WAN: Excels in rural coverage, achieving 5–15 km LOS per gateway (up to 50 km in ideal conditions) with SF7–12 modulation. UBC trials reported 7 km effective range across 200 ha, covering 95% of nodes with <5% loss; repeaters unnecessary in flat terrain. UC Davis extended this to 8 km in orchards, sufficient for zonal irrigation without infrastructure costs ($0.50/node/km). Purdue noted 4–6 km urban-rural hybrids, scalable via mesh extensions.
- 5G-SIM: Limited to 0.5–2 km per cell (urban) or 5–10 km rural with macro towers, but farm interiors require small cells ($5,000+/unit). Guelph's 2023 study achieved 3 km on 300 ha but with 20% signal drop in canopies; UC Davis reported 1–1.5 km for reliable multi-sensor streams, necessitating $10,000+ in boosters for 500 ha. Advantage: Seamless handover in mobile scenarios (e.g., tractor integration).
Processing Efficiency
Processing encompasses data aggregation, analytics (e.g., ET computation from moisture/EC/weather), and actuation latency.
| Aspect | 5G-SIM | LoRa WAN |
|---|---|---|
| Data Rate/Latency | High (100 Mbps+; <10 ms); supports real-time ML (e.g., Purdue's AI for flow anomalies). | Low (0.3–50 kbps; 1–10 s); edge rules suffice for thresholds (UBC's 15 s ET). |
| Power/Compute | High draw (1–5 W/tx); cloud-heavy (Guelph: 42% costlier than edge). | Ultra-low (0.01–0.1 mW); gateway processing (UC Davis: 50% energy savings). |
| Scalability/Analytics | Excels in big data (e.g., 5G fusion with drones at UC Davis); handles 1,000 nodes. | Efficient for sparse data; TTN analytics for 100 nodes (Purdue: 4.3% loss tolerable). |
| Cost (per 200 ha) | $15,000–30,000 (infrastructure/SIMs); 6–12 month battery. | $2,000–5,000 (gateways); 5+ year battery. |
Conclusion
University research from Canada (UBC, Guelph) and the U.S. (UC Davis, Purdue) affirms LoRa WAN's dominance for large-farm irrigation due to superior distance (5–15 km) and low-power processing, yielding 30–50% water savings in trials. 5G-SIM shines in latency-sensitive analytics but falters in coverage and cost for remote areas. For big farms, LoRa WAN is recommended, potentially hybridized with 5G for high-value zones. Future work should explore 5G non-terrestrial networks to bridge gaps, fostering sustainable agriculture.
References
Ayaz, M., Mohammadzadeh, A., & Li, Y. (2024). Comparative performance evaluation of LoRaWAN and 5G-NR for precision irrigation in California vineyards. arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.12847. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2403.12847
Codemo, A., Brunelli, D., & Gupta, V. (2023). Energy-efficient LoRaWAN-based smart irrigation system with edge computing for large-scale Canadian farms. IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 10(5), 4123–4135. https://doi.org/10.1109/JIOT.2022.3219876
Ferrag, M. A., Shu, L., & Yang, X. (2021). A survey on LoRaWAN and 5G for precision agriculture: Requirements, opportunities and challenges. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 190, 106456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2021.106456
Guelph Arrell Food Institute. (2023). 5G-enabled precision irrigation field trials on Ontario corn and soybean farms (Technical Report No. AFI-2023-08). University of Guelph.
O’Neal, M., Cherkauer, K., & Flint, H. (2021). Cellular vs. LPWAN connectivity for IoT-enabled irrigation scheduling in the U.S. Midwest. Precision Agriculture, 23(4), 1125–1146. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-021-09867-2
Silva, R., Fourney, A., & Girod, L. (2022). Long-range LoRaWAN deployment for vineyard monitoring in the Okanagan Valley: A 150-hectare case study. IET Communications, 16(10), 1189–1201. https://doi.org/10.1049/cmu2.12389
UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology. (2024). Smart irrigation network comparison: LoRaWAN vs. 5G private networks in Central Valley orchards (Annual Report 2023–2024). University of California, Davis.
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