Hardware support of the information and technical system for measuring the values of the electrical conductivity parameters of the soil environment

Abstract

Modern agricultural technologies involve the widespread use of information and technical systems to obtain timely information about the agrobiological state of the soil environment. Such information is the basis for operational management of the agrobiological potential of fields. Therefore, there is a need to develop new methods for operational monitoring of the agrobiological conditions of agricultural lands and for operational decision-making regarding the use of variable rates of technological material application. It is obvious that under such conditions there is a need to develop and use fundamentally new approaches to conducting agro-industrial production, aimed at ensuring the proper quality of technological operations. One of the modern elements of the information and technical system is a system for measuring the conductive properties of the soil environment. Therefore, analyzing the hardware of the information and technical system for measuring the electrical conductivity of the soil environment is important and relevant in modern scientific research. The article reviews the requirements and architecture of the hardware of the information and technical system designed to measure the electrical conductivity and related parameters of the soil environment. The measurement methods (two-electrode, four-electrode, and electrical tomography) are analyzed, the components of the hardware are described (current source/excitation, electrodes, amplifiers/filters, ADC, controllers, communications, power supply), and recommendations are given for the selection of components, calibration, improving the accuracy and stability of measurements, as well as testing and validation approaches. Additionally, the issues of protection, grounding, interface unification, and integration with software for data processing and transmission are discussed.