Articles | Volume 9, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-117-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-117-2020
Research article
 | 
06 Apr 2020
Research article |  | 06 Apr 2020

Evaluating the suitability of the consumer low-cost Parrot Flower Power soil moisture sensor for scientific environmental applications

Angelika Xaver, Luca Zappa, Gerhard Rab, Isabella Pfeil, Mariette Vreugdenhil, Drew Hemment, and Wouter Arnoud Dorigo

Related authors

The International Soil Moisture Network: serving Earth system science for over a decade
Wouter Dorigo, Irene Himmelbauer, Daniel Aberer, Lukas Schremmer, Ivana Petrakovic, Luca Zappa, Wolfgang Preimesberger, Angelika Xaver, Frank Annor, Jonas Ardö, Dennis Baldocchi, Marco Bitelli, Günter Blöschl, Heye Bogena, Luca Brocca, Jean-Christophe Calvet, J. Julio Camarero, Giorgio Capello, Minha Choi, Michael C. Cosh, Nick van de Giesen, Istvan Hajdu, Jaakko Ikonen, Karsten H. Jensen, Kasturi Devi Kanniah, Ileen de Kat, Gottfried Kirchengast, Pankaj Kumar Rai, Jenni Kyrouac, Kristine Larson, Suxia Liu, Alexander Loew, Mahta Moghaddam, José Martínez Fernández, Cristian Mattar Bader, Renato Morbidelli, Jan P. Musial, Elise Osenga, Michael A. Palecki, Thierry Pellarin, George P. Petropoulos, Isabella Pfeil, Jarrett Powers, Alan Robock, Christoph Rüdiger, Udo Rummel, Michael Strobel, Zhongbo Su, Ryan Sullivan, Torbern Tagesson, Andrej Varlagin, Mariette Vreugdenhil, Jeffrey Walker, Jun Wen, Fred Wenger, Jean Pierre Wigneron, Mel Woods, Kun Yang, Yijian Zeng, Xiang Zhang, Marek Zreda, Stephan Dietrich, Alexander Gruber, Peter van Oevelen, Wolfgang Wagner, Klaus Scipal, Matthias Drusch, and Roberto Sabia
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 5749–5804, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5749-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5749-2021, 2021
Short summary

Related subject area

Ground-based instruments
Development of an internet-of-things-based controlled-source ultrasonic audio frequency electromagnetic receiver
Zucan Lin, Qisheng Zhang, Keyu Zhou, Xiyuan Zhang, Xinchang Wang, Hui Zhang, and Feng Liu
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 13, 325–336, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-325-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-325-2024, 2024
Short summary
A tool for estimating ground-based InSAR acquisition characteristics prior to monitoring installation and survey and its differences from satellite InSAR
Charlotte Wolff, Marc-Henri Derron, Carlo Rivolta, and Michel Jaboyedoff
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 13, 225–248, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-225-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-225-2024, 2024
Short summary
An underground drip water monitoring network to characterize rainfall recharge of groundwater at different geologies, environments, and climates across Australia
Andy Baker, Margaret Shanafield, Wendy Timms, Martin Sogaard Andersen, Stacey Priestley, and Marilu Melo Zurita
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 13, 117–129, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-117-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-117-2024, 2024
Short summary
Research and application of a flexible measuring array for deep displacement of landslides
Yang Li, Zhong Li, Qifeng Guo, Yimin Liu, and Daji Zhang
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 13, 97–105, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-97-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-97-2024, 2024
Short summary
A hydrate reservoir renovation device and its application in nitrogen bubble fracturing
Jingsheng Lu, Yuanxin Yao, Dongliang Li, Jinhai Yang, Deqing Liang, Yiqun Zhang, Decai Lin, and Kunlin Ma
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 13, 75–83, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-75-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-75-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Albergel, C., de Rosnay, P., Gruhier, C., Muñoz-Sabater, J., Hasenauer, S., Isaksen, L., Kerr, Y., and Wagner, W.: Evaluation of remotely sensed and modelled soil moisture products using global ground-based in situ observations, Remote Sens. Environ., 118, 215–226, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2011.11.017, 2012. a
Bauer-Marschallinger, B., Freeman, V., Cao, S., Paulik, C., Schaufler, S., Stachl, T., Modanesi, S., Massari, C., Ciabatta, L., Brocca, L., and Wagner, W.: Toward Global Soil Moisture Monitoring With Sentinel-1: Harnessing Assets and Overcoming Obstacles, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 57, 520–539, https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2018.2858004, 2019. a
Blöschl, G., Blaschke, A. P., Broer, M., Bucher, C., Carr, G., Chen, X., Eder, A., Exner-Kittridge, M., Farnleitner, A. H., Flores-Orozco, A., Haas, P., Hogan, P., Kazemi Amiri, A., Oismüller, M., Parajka, J. D., Silasari, R., Stadler, P., Strauss, P., Vreugdenhil, M., Wagner, W., and Zessner, M.: The Hydrological Open Air Laboratory (HOAL) in Petzenkirchen: a hypothesis-driven observatory, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 20, 227–255, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-20-227-2016, 2016. a, b, c
Bogena, H., Huisman, J., Oberdörster, C., and Vereecken, H.: Evaluation of a low-cost soil water content sensor for wireless network applications, J. Hydrol., 344, 32–42, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2007.06.032, 2007. a, b
Bogena, H., Herbst, M., Huisman, J., Rosenbaum, U., Weuthen, A., and Vereecken, H.: Potential of Wireless Sensor Networks for Measuring Soil Water Content Variability, Vadose Zone J., 9, 1002–1013, https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2009.0173, 2010. a
Download
Short summary
Soil moisture plays a key role in the hydrological cycle and the climate system. Although soil moisture can be observed by the means of satellites, ground observations are still crucial for evaluating and improving these satellite products. In this study, we investigate the performance of a consumer low-cost soil moisture sensor in the lab and in the field. We demonstrate that this sensor can be used for scientific applications, for example to create a dataset valuable for satellite validation.