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“Design of capacitive sensor for monitoring moisture content of soil and

analysis of analog voltage with variability in moisture”

Conference Paper · March 2014

DOI: 10.1109/RAECS.2014.6799646

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Proceedings of 2014 RAECS UIET Panjab University Chandigarh, 06 – 08 March, 2014

“Design of Capacitive Sensor for Monitoring

Moisture Content of Soil and Analysis of Analog
Voltage with Variability in Moisture”
Guneet Mander Mohit Arora
Electronics and Communication Department Electronics and communication Department
Chandigarh University Chandigarh University
Gharuan, Mohali Gharuan, Mohali
guneetmander.cgc@gmail.com mohit_e@yahoo.com

Abstract—An important parameter in today’s world is food have several distinct advantages over the other techniques, as
security as environmental degradation is a big threat. The need of a method of measuring changes near the sensor’s surface. For
the hour is proper utilization of resources .In developing countries instance, capacitive sensor measurements do not possess the
where cultivation of land and crop production is a major source of potential health risks of radiation-based methods.
income it becomes mandatory to manage the land in a beneficial Furthermore, fabricating and operating low-frequency
manner. Moisture content in soil is optimal for plant growth .All
capacitive sensors are relatively simple compared to RF-based
the water held in the soil is not available to plants. Much of the
water is available in the soil as a thin film which serves as a techniques. However, if measurement of the high-frequency
medium for supply of nutrients to growing plants. The paper effects on the dielectric constant is required, then the RF-
describes design of a capacitance based soil moisture sensor which based techniques must be utilized. Capacitive fringing sensors
helps in finding moisture content of soil also depicting the are employed in monitoring moisture content in soil, grain,
variations in analog voltage with the change in moisture content. and paper moisture content, rain detection, as proximity
This low cost portable instrument can find many applications like sensors, as capacitive touch switches, as biomedical sensors
drip irrigation and measuring moisture content of pulses, grains etc [3].India being an agricultural country where GDP from
and wheat. India being an agricultural country where many agriculture sector contributes a major chunk to annual income,
people’s livelihood depends on agricultural output it can provide to
the design of this low cost portable sensor can be highly
be highly beneficial.
Keywords— Environmental degradation; Sensor; water . beneficial. India is second in the world in agriculture and its
allied sector [5].Many Indian states including Uttar Pradesh,
Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,
I. INTRODUCTION
West Bengal, Gujarat and Maharashtra contribute maximum
In the fields such as agriculture and prevention of landslide to the agriculture output of the country. Therefore, careful
disaster, maintenance of the embankment in the river, etc., it is management of water is necessary so as to gain maximum
very essential technology to measure the water that is included productivity.
in the soil [1].Water held in pores of soil in liquid or vaporized permittivity of the dielectric in the vicinity of the electrodes
form is referred as soil moisture. Changes in the percentage of can be sensed by monitoring the changes in the structure’s
soil moisture during the irrigation event can be controlled by capacitance. Capacitive sensors have several distinct
indicating the amount of applied water to soil[2].Parameters advantages over the other techniques, as a method of
like water holding capacity, infiltration rate, drainage and measuring changes near the sensor’s surface. For instance,
erosion vary from range of soil available. Agricultural soils capacitive sensor measurements do not possess the potential
consist of three component materials namely solid (mineral health risks of radiation-based methods. Furthermore,
and organic), water and gas. As such, their mechanical, fabricating and operating low-frequency capacitive sensors are
physical and chemical behavior is complex and is critically relatively simple compared to RF-based techniques. However,
determined by the proportion of water in the soil matrix[4]. if measurement of the high-frequency effects on the dielectric
Soil moisture sensors can be implemented using various constant is required, then the RF-based techniques must be
techniques like resistive, gravimetric, neutron scattering, utilized. Capacitive fringing sensors are employed in
capacitive techniques, time domain reflectometry etc.In this monitoring moisture content in soil, grain, and paper moisture
paper design of soil moisture sensor based on capacitive content, rain detection, as proximity sensors, as capacitive
technique is used. In capacitive structures any measurand that touch switches, as biomedical sensors etc [3].India being an
affects the electrode separation distance, the electrode agricultural country where GDP from agriculture sector
overlapping area, or the relative permittivity of the dielectric contributes a major chunk to annual income, the design of this
in the vicinity of the electrodes can be sensed by monitoring low cost portable sensor can be highly beneficial. India is
the changes in the structure’s capacitance. Capacitive sensors

978-1-4799-2291-8/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE

second in the world in agriculture and its allied sector
[5].Many Indian states including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab,
Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, West
Bengal, Gujarat and Maharashtra contribute maximum to the TABLEII: TYPES OF SOILS AND ITS COMPOSITION
agriculture output of the country. Therefore, careful Soil
management of water is necessary so as to gain maximum SNo Soil Type Texture Organic matter Conductivi
productivity. Sand Clay % ty
% % (S/cm)

1 Loamy 78 2 2 66
TABLE I: GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) FROM AGRICULTURE AND ALLIED
SECTOR AND ITS PERCENTAGE SHARE TO TOTAL GDP (1954-55 TO 2012-
13)(RUPEES CRORE)
2 Sandy 95 0 0 0
YEAR GDP GDP GDP % Share of Growth
Total Total Agric Agricultur Rate of
(At (at ulture e and GDP Agri. 3 Clay 15 40 0.3 0.3
current Factor and Allied & Allied
market Cost) Allied sector to
prices) in Rs. sector total GDP 4 Organic 78 2 5.7 5.7
Cr.

1954- 11,170 10,689 4,902 45.86 -14.93 5 Ferromagnetic 82.5 2.5 0.1 0.1
55
1964- 27,367 25,686 11,03 42.96 22.18
65 4 The objective of the project was to design a microcontroller
1974- 80,770 74,930 30,20 40.3 9.55 based instrument which can measure percentage of moisture in
75 4 1 soil .For this sensor has been designed, whose capacitance as
1984- 256,611 235,11 75,73 32.21 7.84 well as analog voltage varies as the percentage of moisture in
85 3 1
soil changes. The basic design includes two electrodes
1994- 1,045,5 955,38 270,1 28.27 15.15
95 90 5 07 separated by a distance served as a sensor as it can be easily
2004- 3,242,2 2,971, 565,4 19.03 3.81 inserted in the soil at any distance and for this project various
05 09 464 26 components were used like resistances, capacitors, frequency
2012- 10,028, 5,503, 5,503 17.37 12.10 to voltage convertor, power supply, 555 timer, LCD etc.
13 118 476 ,476 capacitance is the ability of a body to hold an electrical
charge. Capacitance is measure of the amount of electrical
energy stored (or separated) for a given electric potential.
A common form of energy storage device is a parallel-plate
II. PROBLEM RECOGNIZATION AND SOIL
capacitor. In a parallel plate capacitor, capacitance is directly
MOISTURE STATISTICS
proportional to the surface area of the conductor plates and
Moisture measurements are of interest in many engineering inversely proportional to the separation distance between the
applications today. Early assessment of soil moisture reserves, plates. If the charges on the plates are +Q and -Q, and V gives
and monitoring of changes in available soil moisture, could the voltage between the plates, then the capacitance is given
assist in risk reduction strategies for the agriculture sector and by C = Q / V.
effective delivery of government programs. Improved C= εA/d (1)
knowledge of emerging risks would also support the evolution ε = Relative permittivity; A =Overlapping area; d = Distance
from reactive federal response programs to proactive between two plates
adaptation [6].In Northern India which is majorly referred as
the agriculture belt of the country, a large number of crops are As Dielectric constant or permittivity of a material is directly
cultivated here and the soil also varies from area to area. Soil proportional to capacitance and distance between two plates
monitoring data was accumulated from a particular location and inversely proportional to the overlapping area of plates, so
but results are applicable to multiple locations .Various types
the relative permittivity of a material under given conditions
of soils are available in India and each particular type has its
reflects the extent to which it concentrates electrostatic lines of
own properties. For experimental analysis in this case sandy
flux. Technically, it is the ratio of the amount of electrical
soil was used for analysis of moisture content in soil. The soil
was first heated to 300 degree Celsius for 24 hours in dry heat energy stored in a material by an applied voltage, relative to
oven so as to remove all moisture. that stored in a vacuum. Similarly, it is also the ratio of the
capacitance of a capacitor using that material as a dielectric,
compared to a similar capacitor which has vacuum as its
dielectric. This concept has been utilized, with soil serving as
the dielectric medium and variation in capacitance is measured
with the addition of water in soil. Dielectric constant of soil is
generalized to lie between the 3-4.

Fig2. Design of Sensor

Fig 1: Parallel Plate Capacitor The sandy soil present was dried using dry heat oven. Water
was then added with an addition of 10ml consecutively and
III.DESIGN OF SENSOR readings were taken.LM 7805 was used to regulate power
1. Signal acquisition and signal conditioning: Signal given to the circuit. The sensor was used to observe the
acquisition means acquiring signal for this parallel plate changes taking place in capacitance and analog voltage with
capacitor used as the sensor which will give capacitive signal the addition of water in soil.555 timer was used in astable
as output according to dielectric strength of soil. Signal mode to generate square wave as LM 2907 is essentially a
conditioning means making the output signal in that form frequency to voltage convertor and the relatively obtained
which the electronic circuit can understand e.g. voltage. A voltage was observed on the 5th pin of the IC. The LM2907,
frequency to voltage convertor converts the square wave LM2917 series are monolithic frequency to voltage converters
coming from 555 timer into voltage signal. with a high gain op amp/comparator designed to operate a
2. Signal processing: Signal processing includes so many relay, lamp, or other load when the input frequency reaches or
processes e.g. filtration for which capacitors are used, exceeds a selected rate. The tachometer uses a charge pump
inductors etc. amplifiers for amplification so that ADC can technique and offers frequency doubling for low ripple, full
access the signal because signal from the sensor can be of very input protection in two versions (LM2907-8, LM2917-8) and
less magnitude .ADC which converts output analog signal into its output swings to ground for a zero frequency input. The
the digital form and this digital output from the analog to two basic configurations offered include an 8-pin device with
digital convertor is given to microcontroller which is a digital a ground referenced tachometer input and an internal
device and the function is to control and display the output connection between the tachometer output and the op amp
according to the input for which it is programmed. non-inverting input. This version is well suited for single
3. Selection of Hardware components and Software Used: speed or frequency switching or fully buffered frequency to
Basic designing of sensor consisted of two aluminum knitting voltage conversion applications [7].
needles serving as electrodes with wooden encapsulation on The formula for calculating analog voltage is given as
the top. One of the needles was covered with a plastic pipe
which fully enclosed the aluminum needle so as to avoid short
circuiting in the sensor. The Hardware Circuitry included the
use of LM 7805 Voltage Regulator, 555 Timer, LM2907,
ADC 0804, Microcontroller 8051 and LCD (JH162 A). The
specifications of the container containing soil are given below:
Height of container carrying soil =12.9 cm
Diameter of container = 14.8cm
Radius =7.4 cm
Area of cylinder (amount of sand) = πr2h =2235 cu .cm
1 liters =1000ml =1000cu .cm
Total Volume= (Volume of water + volume of sand)
Moisture percentage by volume= (Volume of water/Total
volume*100)
Fig3: Pin configuration of LM2907
The obtained analog voltage was then converted to digital
form by using ADC 0804 which is an 8bit successive
approximation analog to digital convertor. Conversion time
for this operation was found out to be 100 microseconds.
AT89C51, CMOS 8bit microcomputer with 4K bytes of flash
programmable memory is used for programming. The final
display is taken on LCD screen which depicted percentage of
moisture. JHD162A (LCD MODULE) is used to take display
which is a 16pin IC.Calibration chart is prepared and output is
observed for analog voltage and capacitance and graphs are
obtained.

Fig5:Flow chart for software development

Fig4: Hardware Circuitry for Sensor V. RESULTS

IV.SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT Different soil samples were taken and water was constantly
added with a difference of 10ml and moisture content was
KIEL µ VISION4-This software is used to convert the found by the formula:
assembly language program to Hex Files. Total Volume= (Volume of water volume of sand)
Moisture percentage by volume= (Volume of water/Total
PROLOAD – It is an 89 series programmer device which is volume*100)
used to burn C – language program into microcontroller 8051 Analog voltage was taken from 5th pin of LM 2907 and
.Firstly all the hex files are generated and then program is formula for calculating analog voltage is:
burned into microcontroller through the programmer.
where R1=10ohm&&C=10µF
ORCAD – In ORCAD we simulation is done and output is
checked with reference to the input before making hardware
and finalizing the circuit.

CONTROL PROGRAM – The control program is developed

in C language for easy implementation.

Fig.6: Relation between amount of water (ml) and analog voltage (Volts)

Capacitance was found out from the formula:

(2)
 where R1=100K and fin was found to be 5.96KHz. by incorporating the hardware in the wooden encapsulation
C=Vout/5.96KHz×9×100K (3) provided at the top of the sensor by making it completely
portable and easy to handle .Considering aspect of marketing
LCD display could also be incorporated on the top of wooden
box to make it more appealing. This sensor can prove to be
highly beneficial in the agricultural belt specifically in small
scale cultivation where majority revenue is generated from
crop productivity because of its efficiency and cost effective
nature. However, for real field large scale applicatibility a
more rigid structure needs to be designed.
REFERENCES

[1] Yousuke Yamamoto, Yoshihito Yamamoto ,Akira Ogawa”; sensors,

2002 Proceedings of IEEE Vol.1,” Novel Soil-Moisture-Sensors
Applying Thermal Characteristics of Soil and Water,”
[2] Nurzharina Binti Abd. Karim, Idris Bin Ismail”Soil Moisture Detection
Fig7: Relation between amount of Water (mL) & Capacitance Using Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT) Sensor”, 2011 IEEE
(Nano Farads) International Conference on Imaging Systems and Techniques,Date 17-
18 May 2011.
[3] Robert Neal Dean, Senior Member, IEEE, Aditi Kiran Rane,
It was clearly observed that for sandy soil both capacitance Michael E. Baginski, Senior Member, IEEE, Jonathan Richard,
Zane Hartzog, and David J. Elton,” A Capacitive Fringing Field
and analog voltage follow an approximately linear pattern Sensor Design for Moisture Measurement Based on Printed
with the increase in amount of moisture (water content) in soil Circuit Board Technology”; IEEE Transactions On
and attains a constant value after certain value (200ml) Instrumentation And Measurement, Vol. 61, No. 4, April 2012.
approximately. [4] Q. Smit B.J.P. Mortimer J. Tapson ,”General Purpose Self-
Tuning Capacitance Sensor”;IEEE Instrumentation
Measurement Technology Conference St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
VI .CONCLUSION May 18-21, 1998
[5] Planningcommission.gov.in/data/datatable/data_2110/table_38pl
In this paper design and implementation of a microcontroller anning commission of India.
based soil moistures sensor has been discussed and analysis of [6] Heather McNairn, Member, IEEE, Amine Merzouki, Anna
Pacheco, and John Fitzmaurice,”Monitoring Soil Moisture to
variation of capacitance and analog voltage with addition of Support Risk Reduction for the Agriculture Sector Usin
water in soil. It has been observed that both capacitance and RADARSAT-2”; IEEE Journal Of Selected Topics In Applied
analog voltage both follow a linear pattern with the addition of Earth Observations And Remote Sensing, Vol. 5, No. 3, June
water and attain a constant value after a particular value. This 2011.
sensor is capable of monitoring soil moisture automatically [7] TexasinstrumentLM2907_N,LM2917_N,SNAS555C_June2000,
revisedMarch2013
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applicable in monitoring in infiltration rate, drainage and use
of crop water. Further modification can be done in the sensor

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