Soil Scout: Up to 50% Water Savings Through Precision Irrigation

​

Soil Scout sensors continuously and in real time measure moisture, temperature, salinity, and oxygen levels directly in the plant root zone, up to 2 meters deep from the soil surface. Traditional methods usually only observe the surface or perform superficial moisture measurements, whereas a plant's true water need depends on the conditions deep within its root system.

• Achieving up to 50% water savings with Soil Scout underground sensors is a possible and realistic goal in agriculture and green space management (farms, stadiums, golf courses, parks, etc.). This claim stems from the precision and data-driven management enabled by sensor technology.

• The Key to 50% Water Savings with Soil Scout: Data-Driven Precision Irrigation

• In traditional irrigation methods (observation, estimation, calendar-based, or manual control), a large portion of water is wasted. Soil Scout sensors eliminate this waste, ensuring maximum efficiency.

​​

The mechanism is based on the following principles:

• Real-Time and Root Zone Data: Soil Scout sensors continuously and in real time measure moisture, temperature, salinity, and oxygen levels directly in the plant root zone, up to 2 meters deep from the soil surface. Traditional methods usually only observe the surface or perform superficial moisture measurements, whereas a plant's true water need depends on the conditions deep within its root system.

• Demand-Driven Irrigation: Thanks to the sensors, it's precisely determined when and how much water the plant truly needs. The plant is kept at its optimal moisture level without experiencing drought stress or being over-watered. When it rains or when there's sufficient moisture in the soil, irrigation systems automatically stop or don't activate. This completely prevents unnecessary irrigation.

• Zonal and Spot-On Irrigation (Precision Irrigation): In large agricultural areas, golf courses, or parks, the water needs of each zone can differ due to variations in soil type, slope, sun exposure, and drainage. By strategically placing multiple Soil Scout sensors across the site, a moisture map of the field/area is generated. This map shows which areas are dry and which are moist. Irrigation systems (especially those with smart zoning capabilities) provide specific irrigation to each zone based on this data. For example, water is applied only to dry zone A, while moist zone B receives no water. This dramatically reduces overall water consumption.

• Prevention of Over-Irrigation and Losses: Deep Drainage Loss (Leaching): Excess water applied percolates into deeper soil layers, wasting water and leaching nutrients (fertilizer) away from the plant. Soil Scout adjusts irrigation amounts to prevent this loss.

• Surface Runoff: In over-irrigated areas, water flows off the surface without being absorbed by the soil, leading to water loss and erosion. Sensors prevent this situation, ensuring water penetrates the soil.

• Evaporation Loss: Irrigating at the correct time and in the correct amount helps minimize water losses due to evaporation, especially in hot weather.

​​

How is 50% Savings Achieved?

• A traditional golf course or a large agricultural field might be irrigated 3 times a week, with 10 mm of water each time. This amounts to 30 mm of water per week in total. However, with Soil Scout sensor analysis, it might be revealed that:

• 20% of the field only needs 5 mm of water each week.

• 50% of it needs 10 mm of water each week.

• For the remaining 30%, once a week irrigation with 15 mm of water might be sufficient.

• Additionally, there might be days in a rainy week where irrigation is completely skipped.

• Through this precise and zonal management, overall water consumption significantly decreases. While 100 units of water might be used with traditional methods, the same or even better plant health can be achieved with 50 units of water using Soil Scout.

• The up to 50% water savings offered by Soil Scout is not just an economic benefit but also vitally important for combating the global water crisis and ensuring environmental sustainability.