Octavian Postolache of IEEE IMS Portugal Chapter

Nowadays when the global population is growing by more than 80 million a year reported studies are predicting an increasing pressure on the planet's natural resources including food resources. The situation is going worst when unpredictable meteorologic events are running up in the context of great climate changes related to the global effect of anthropogenic greenhouse emissions. In this context precision agriculture (PA) combines technologies and practices to optimize agricultural production through specific farm management are considered.

At the same PA focuses on the accuracy of operations considering the place, time to act and method to be applied. Agricultural operations are carried out to reach the production goals using the information provided by the smart sensors and instrumentation increasing the sustainability of operations. Distributed smart sensing system characterized by fixed and mobile nodes (associated with Unnamed Aerial Vehicle (UAV)) is used to turn farming operations into data, and to make future operations a data-driven one. These new including edge and cloud computing that are capable to run artificial intelligence algorithms may contribute to a slight replacement of human decisions based on their accumulated experience with a machine-based decision. This new way to act in agriculture in a digital form combining technologies such as smart sensors, cloud, and mobile computing, data science is related to the fact that classical decisions cannot be applied nowadays when the cultivated areas are much extended, and the adverse meteorological events are occurring frequently that conduct to miss-management with yield losses.

Using smart sensors computation and data analysis the applied quantity of water and fertilizers is optimized. Weather stations could provide additional information such as ambient temperature, relative humidity, and wind velocity that are also used together soil measured quantities such as moisture, pH, conductivity, temperature, and macronutrients concentration (Nitrogen, Potassium, Calcium) to create models to be used for farm operation optimization. Data from distributed sensing systems on the crop field can be also used to avoid plant stress phenomena (e.g. plant water stress).  Data mining is successfully applied in PA being associated with data analysis of massive data.

In this talk, we’ll see together the meaning of precision agriculture in the context of heavy uncertainty associated with climate change.  IoT ecosystem for precision agriculture will be discussed including multimodal sensing and artificial intelligence. Referring to sensing as part of the IoT ecosystem in-situ and remote sensing is considered. The agriculture UAV imagery and satellite imagery solutions as so as the relation between the data coming from the smart sensors distributed in the field and acquired images using multispectral imagery techniques will be part of the presentation. Metrological characteristics of smart sensors as so as the calibration procedure for in-situ and remote measurement smart sensing systems will be part of the talk.

 Another important technology associated with innovative precision agriculture is related to the development of AI data-driven models for farming operations considering data coming from different sources Examples of data-driven models for smart irrigation and nutrient delivery will be considered.

Challenges to precision agriculture adoption by regular farmers and how the agricultural operation can support the important transformation to become more environmentally sustainable for increased crop quality will be discussed. A specific part of the talk will be climate change, and how this reality will affect the adoption of smart sensing and AI technologies for  PA.

Foloowing Points were discussed 

1. Precision Agriculture in:
a. In-Situ Monitoring of Soil Characterization
b. Remote Sensing and UAV Imaging
c. AI on Precision Agriculture

2. Demand for food is driven by population growth.

3. Parameters affected by global warming and climatic changes.
a. Temperature: Rising temperatures can affect crop growth and development, particularly during critical stages such as flowering and grain filling. Extreme heat events can also lead to crop stress, reduced yields, and increased pest and disease pressure.
b. Precipitation: Changes in precipitation patterns, including increased frequency of droughts or floods, can impact soil moisture, nutrient availability, and crop growth. Irrigation systems may need to be adjusted to account for changes in rainfall patterns.
c. Soil Moisture: Changes in precipitation patterns can also affect soil moisture, which can impact nutrient uptake by plants and overall crop growth. Monitoring soil moisture levels and using precision irrigation can help to optimize water use efficiency.
d. Pests and Diseases: Changes in temperature and precipitation can also impact the prevalence and distribution of pests and diseases, which can have a significant impact on crop yields. Precision agriculture can help to detect and manage pest and disease outbreaks through early detection and targeted application of treatments.
e. Carbon Dioxide Levels: Rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere can impact crop growth and nutrient uptake, potentially leading to lower nutrient content in crops. Precision agriculture can help to optimize nutrient application rates to account for changes in carbon dioxide levels.
f. Overall, precision agriculture can help farmers to adapt to the impacts of global warming and climatic changes by providing real-time data and analytics to inform decision-making. By monitoring and managing key parameters, farmers can optimize crop yields while reducing their environmental impact and promoting sustainable farming practices.

4. Solution he presented Under the topic: Digitalization of Agriculture for measuring visibility and transparency of food systems and use of Technology

Solution presented: IOT for precision agriculture in soil fertilization and NPK monitoring (Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium).
a. Automated Fertilizer Dispensers: Automated fertilizer dispensers can be connected to the IoT network and programmed to dispense the right amount of fertilizer at the right time based on the information received from the soil sensors.
b. NPK Monitoring: IoT-based NPK monitoring systems can be used to track the nutrient levels in the soil in real-time. This information can be used to adjust the fertilizer application rates to ensure that the plants receive the correct balance of nutrients

Smart Sensor for In-situ soil measurement based on TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry).

Data Communication: MOD-BUS-RTU-RS485
a. Characteristics: High Precision and High Sensitivity
 In-Situ Air Monitoring Node Prototype
. Extended the area of monitoring based on wired networks:
RSW5 / MODBUS for 7-wire parameter and 1-wire parameter for RH & temperature.
. In-Situ water Quality Measurement Heavy Metal water pollution Mobile: DS- Potentiostat

He also discussed  drip and water mangement. AI ML usage and applications. 

Biography:

Dr. Octavian Adrian Postolache is an electrical engineer and Associate Professor with habilitation at ISCTE-Instituto Universitario de Lisboa and a Senior researcher at Instituto de Telecomunicacoes, Lisbon, Portugal. His fields of interest are smart sensors, WSN, IoT for precision agriculture,  artificial intelligence for automated measurement systems, and intelligent transportation. Dr. Postolache is the author and co-author of 10 patents, 12 books, 21 book chapters, and more than 400 papers in international journals and indexed conferences with peer review.  He developed important research work in the field of environmental monitoring and he participate as a PI or member in national and international Agriculture 4.0 projects such as AGROECOINN and SmartFarm 4.0 Colab. He is an IEEE Senior Member, chair of IEEE IMS TC-13, and current chair of the IEEE IMS Portugal Chapter. He is an Associate Editor of IEEE Sensors Journal, IEEE Transaction on Instrumentation and Measurement, and IoT from Elsevier.  He received IEEE outstanding reviewer and the outstanding associate editor from IEEE Transactions in Instrumentation and Measurement and IEEE Sensors Journal and other awards related to his research activity at different international forums.

Affiliation:

Instituto Universitário de Lisboa

Email:

opostolache@lx.it.pt

Affiliations

Instituto Universitário de Lisboa

Portugal

Instituto de Telecomunicações

Portugal

Country:

Portugal

 Topic of Lecture:

Email:

Address:Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Instituto de Telecomunicações Portugal, Lisbon , Portugal