SenseCAP Wireless Soil Moisture and Temperature Sensor measures soil volumetric water content (VWC) and temperature. It’s designed with a 2-in-1 sensor that integrates soil temperature and soil moisture, a custom battery, and an IP66 enclosure, optimized for outdoor use cases that need reliable data collection over years.
SenseCAP Wireless Soil Moisture and Temperature Sensor – LoRaWAN
About SenseCAP
Among the first launch of Seeed industrial IoT (IIoT) product series, SenseCAP is focusing on wireless environmental sensing applications: smart agriculture, precision farming, and smart city, to name a few. It consists of hardware products (sensors, data-loggers & gateways, etc.), software services (SenseCAP portal, mobile App, open dashboard), and API for device & data management. SenseCAP supports different communication protocols, such as LoRa, 2G, 4G, NB-IoT, and more.
SenseCAP Wireless Soil Moisture & Temperature Sensor measures soil volumetric water content (VWC) and soil temperature at the range of 0 ~ 100% (m³/m³) and -30 ~ 70℃ respectively. With the high-quality soil moisture and temperature probe, this sensor features high precision and sensitivity regardless of soil variability, making it widely applicable in industrial IoT (IIoT) scenarios such as water-saving irrigation, outdoor fields, greenhouses, and more.
This device incorporates a built-in LoRa transmitter based on SX1276 for long-range transmission, a 2-in-1 sensor, and a custom battery. It is specifically designed and optimized for user cases powering end devices by batteries for years.To minimize the power consumption, the device wakes up, transmits the collected soil moisture and temperature data to the gateway, and then goes back to sleep.
Under the best of circumstances, the battery is expected to last for more than 6 years, depending on environmental factors and the data transmission intervals. Please kindly note that the default interval is once per hour. If you’d like to change the data upload interval, please refer to this document
To fit in adverse conditions, this wireless sensor is designed with industry standards and equipped with an IP66 waterproof enclosure, protecting the device from UV radiation, rain, and sunlight exposure.
The SenseCAP Sensor adopts a modular design, integrating the data logger with the sensor probe, which can be replaced by other SenseCAP sensor probes.
Note
SenseCAP Sensor is fully compliant with LoRaWAN specifications and can be used with standard LoRaWAN gateways. Please choose the corresponding gateway according to the sensor frequency.
Seeed also provides SenseCAP LoRaWAN Gateway for you to use with SenseCAP Sensors seamlessly without extra huge workload for provisioning.
System Architecture
SenseCAP Architecture
SenseCAP Sensor + Other LoRaWAN Gateway Architecture
Features
- Support LoRaWAN protocol Class A
- High reliability and stability
- Ultra-wide-distance transmission: 10km in line of sight scene, 2 km in urban scenes
- Battery life ≥ 6 years
- IP66 enclosure, suitable for outdoor applications
- Rapid installation and deployment (see the video below)
Applications
- Smart Agriculture
- Smart Building and Industrial Control
- Environmental Monitoring
- Other Wireless Sensing Applications
User Cases
SenseCAP has been deployed in different application scenarios including tea plantations, greenhouses, outdoor triticale farms and weather stations, etc., Please see more info below:
- SenseCAP Played A Role in Monitoring Environmental Data for AiCU Team to Grow Cherry Tomatoes at the Optimal Use of Resources in Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge 2020 in Wageningen University & Research, Holland.
- SenseCAP Assisted the IoT Solutions for Kinghoo Poultry Farms and Livestock Farms by Detecting the Environmental Changes with Preset Interval.
- SenseCAP Helped to Construct an IoT Solution to Empower Systematic Malaysia Durian Farm.
- SenseCAP Deployed in Outdoor Triticale Farm, Empowering Precision Agriculture in Dingzhou, Hebei Province, Northern China
- Smart Agriculture Demonstration Park of Sweet Melons Empowered by SenseCAP in Beihai Guangxi, Southern China
- SenseCAP Empowers Tourism in Hakka Villages by Collecting Environmental Data at in Heyuan, Guangdong, Southern China
- SenseCAP Monitoring Environmental Data in Smart Greenhouses Growing Tropical Fruits in Shandong, Northern China.
- Smart Tea Plantation in Mengding Mountain to Monitor Key Environmental Data with SenseCAP for Increasing Efficiency and Customer Trust
- SenseCAP Deployed in Environmental Monitoring Projects in Stockholm, Sweden
Specifications
| Soil Temperature | |
|---|---|
| Range | -30 ℃ to +70 ℃ |
| Accuracy | ±0.5 ℃ |
| Resolution | 0.1 ℃ |
| Soil Moisture | |
| Range | From completely dry to fully saturated (from 0% to 100% of saturation) |
| Accuracy | ±2% ( 0 to 50 %); ±3% ( 50 to 100 %) |
| Resolution | 0.03 %(0 to 50%); 1%(50 to 100%) |
| General Parameters | |
| Product Frequency | EU868, US915 |
| Microcontroller | Ultra-low-power MCU |
| Support Protocol | Based on LoRaWAN v1.0.2 protocol |
| LoRa Channel Plan | EU868, US915 |
| LoRa Power Output | 16 dBm (EIRP) |
| Sensitivity | -137.5dBm(SF12, BW125KHz) |
| Current Consumption | 5 μA (sleep mode) 120 mA max(active mode) |
| Communication Distance | 2 to 10 km (depending on different antennas and environments) |
| Measuring Area | A cylinder area (with the probe as the center, diameter: 7cm, height: 7cm) |
| IP Rating | IP66 |
| UV Resistance | anti-aging (from rain/sun exposure): UL746C F1 |
| Enclosure Material | PC |
| Operating Temperature | -30 ℃ to +70 ℃ |
| Operating Humidity | 0 to 100 %RH (non-condensing) |
| Device Weight | 415g |
| Certification | CE, FCC, RoHS |
| Battery (Contained in equipment) | |
| Battery Life | ≥ 3 year (upload data once per hour) |
| Battery Voltage | 3.6V |
| Battery Capacity | 19Ah (non-rechargeable) |
LoRa Frequency
The device is designed with a fixed LoRa channel, which can not be modified by users. The supported channels are as follows. Please refer to this document for how to connect this device with a standard LoRaWAN gateway.
| LoRa Channel Plan for EU868 | |
|---|---|
| Uplink (MHz) | 868.1 – SF7BW125 to SF12BW125 868.3 – SF7BW125 to SF12BW125 and SF7BW250 868.5 – SF7BW125 to SF12BW125 867.1 – SF7BW125 to SF12BW125 867.3 – SF7BW125 to SF12BW125 867.5 – SF7BW125 to SF12BW125 867.7 – SF7BW125 to SF12BW125 867.9 – SF7BW125 to SF12BW125 |
| Downlink (MHz) | Uplink channels 1-8 (RX1) 869.525 – SF9BW125 (RX2 downlink only) |
| LoRa Channel Plan for US915 | |
|---|---|
| Uplink (MHz) | 903.9 – SF7BW125 to SF10BW125 904.1 – SF7BW125 to SF10BW125 904.3 – SF7BW125 to SF10BW125 904.5 – SF7BW125 to SF10BW125 904.7 – SF7BW125 to SF10BW125 904.9 – SF7BW125 to SF10BW125 905.1 – SF7BW125 to SF10BW125 905.3 – SF7BW125 to SF10BW125 |
| Downlink (MHz) | 923.3 – SF7BW500 to SF12BW500 923.9 – SF7BW500 to SF12BW500 924.5 – SF7BW500 to SF12BW500 925.1 – SF7BW500 to SF12BW500 925.7 – SF7BW500 to SF12BW500 926.3 – SF7BW500 to SF12BW500 926.9 – SF7BW500 to SF12BW500 927.5 – SF7BW500 to SF12BW500 |
Part List
| Part List | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sensor | x1 |
| 2 | Bracket | x1 |
| 3 | M4 Self-drilling Screw | x4 |
| 4 | M3 Self-drilling Screw | x2 |
