Farm field data collection based on UAV-WSN

Objective To design a collaborative system made up of Unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) and Wireless sensor network (WSN), which was applied to farmland information monitoring. The function of the system is to provide farm managers with situational awareness of their field and crop by using a WSN linked through a mobile node and carried by a UAV.

Method Three independent plots were chosen to build a separate clustering WSN system in which sensor nodes adopted the working cycle of hibernation, wakeup, work and hibernation. The mobile sensor of UAV communicated with the ground sensors along with the UAV flight trajectory to collect farmland data and to transmit the farmland information to the farmland monitoring data center using 3G network.

Result The system could well complete farmland information collection when the distance between the blocks was more than 100 meters and UAV flight level was 10 meters. The communication quality of UAV-WSN was better than that of static WSN. The average link cost(ALC) dropped by about 10%, 27% and 14% and the average packet loss rate (APLR)reduced by about 24%, 68% and 29% in plot 1, plot 2 and plot 3 respectively.

Conclusion The system expands the static WSN transmission distance, improves the energy efficiency and prolongs the life cycle. The results provide a reference for a large area of plain or mountain farmland information collection.