Monitoring Drought and Controlling Soil Moisture - Coursework Example

Monitoring Drought and Controlling Soil Moisture Teacher               Monitoring Drought and Controlling Soil Moisture Introduction Global warming will affect the world in many serious ways. There will be the worsening of the quality of air, the occurrence of diseases caused by mosquitoes, ticks and fleas, flooding and heat waves as well as typhoons. The changing climate can also give rise to an increase in the sea level as well as other seemingly natural disasters. Because of this and based on NIWA, there is a great need to protect the community against the aforementioned harmful effects of global warming (Preparing for Global Warming, 2008). Global warming in New Zealand has also brought about a variety of consequences involving nature. For example, based on the report by NIWA, the droughts that occurred in 2012 and 2013 were actually the worst in the whole of New Zealand in the last 70 years. Moreover, due to global warming, there have also been serious changes involving the frequency and amount of rainfall as well as drastic changes in temperature in New Zealand (State of the Climate, 2013). Considering these things in mind, there is therefore a need for monitoring of soil conditions as well as plant stress especially during these drastic weather changes. Technological intervention is the answer to this need. This may then be effectively carried out using a network of wireless sensors. These sensors gather necessary data and process these before sending them to a base station. Data such as relative humidity, luminance, soil moisture content and ambient temperature are the ones that are gauged, monitored and analyzed. The processing and analysis of such data will then require a special software that will finally determine whether a particular environmental condition such as drought is basically identified. If so, an alert message will then be sent to the user in any way possible. 2. Background This particular chapter discusses the various environmental factors in New Zealand as believed to have been affected by global warming. These factors include drought, temperature, rainfall and soil moisture deficits. Global warming has caused most drought conditions in the world, and the climate is getting hotter and hotter too because of greenhouse gas emissions through the years. In order to deal with these effects of global warming, communities, cities and countries are expected to coordinate with the state health departments and with other health agencies in developing targeted climate adaptation plans. These climate adaptation plans are actually multifaceted plans whose purpose is to define the responsibilities of various agencies in order to prepare the city or community for the health effects of climate change. In concrete terms, these climate adaptation plans follow through the four principles that help local governments and decision makers create and utilize climate response and preparedness strategies. These principles include the identification of local vulnerabilities and concentrating on local preparedness efforts, tracking threats to health including infectious diseases and mortality due to heat and floods, considering the impacts of global warning when designing buildings and communities, and preparing health care providers and the public by teaching them the proper ways of dealing with the effects of global warming and giving them proactive training. Furthermore, naturally, what is most needed here is funding (Preparing for Global Warming, 2008). Global warming affects New Zealand as it affects the rest of the world. Based on the report by the NIWA Science and Technology in April 2013, climate change in New Zealand is made noticeable by the changing of the seasons, which is actually caused by the varying latitudinal distribution of solar heating during the Earth’s orbit around the Sun (State of the Climate, 2013). 2.1 Temperature Change in New Zealand 2.1.1 Annual Temperature Change in 2010 In terms of temperature changes, New Zealand generally experienced months which were warmer than usual. In 2010, there were seven warmer than normal months evenly distributed throughout the year. In fact, the year 2010 is the 5th warmest year in New Zealand since 1900. However, despite the warmth, there was an extremely cold spell in the whole country between July 10 and 13 because of a strong anticyclone, but the lowest air temperature was recorded as minus 12.6°C on August 10. 2.1.2 Annual Temperature Change in 2011 In 2011, there were very high temperatures and even heat waves, with 41.3°C at Timaru on February 6, which was the highest since 1885. There were also heat waves in April and May. On the other hand, low temperatures and frost were experienced in the months of April, August and September, with record-breaking temperatures brought about by the polar blast by the end of July, the blast of sub-Antarctic air by the middle of August and the lowest temperature at minus 10.2°C on July 26. 2.1.3 Annual Temperature Change in 2010 In 2012, high temperatures of as much as 15.8°C were experienced in New Zealand. Moreover, there was unusual warmth by July ex-tropical cyclone by December. At the same time, just like in the previous years, there were also very low air temperatures such as minus 11.8°C in June and July. At the same time, an unusually cold spell occurred in September and November. There were also late frosts in early November (State of the Climate, 2013). 2.2 Rainfall in New Zealand When it comes to rainfall, 2010 was marked by either above normal or below normal rainfall. Waikato experienced below normal rainfall. Those that experienced above normal rainfall even reached as much as 314 mm of rain on April 25 and 170 mm on June 1. In 2011, six months of the year were wetter than normal, and there were more wet months compared to dry ones. In fact, 2011 was the wettest year for Wanganui since 1987. The wettest locations in 2011 included as much as 9493 mm total amount of rain in Cropp River and 8236 mm in North Egmont. The top 1-day rainfall even reached 392 mm on Takaka in December, and 331 mm in Aramoana on Hawkes Bay. Although some places received only around 395 mm of rainfall the whole year like Clyde, 2011 was generally a year of above normal rainfall than usual. In 2012, annual rainfall was the exact opposite to that of 2011. In fact, 2012 was the driest year on record for Secretary Island and Wanganui. Although some places experienced around 120% of average annual rainfall, the driest places received only as little as 378 mm of rain the whole year in Alexandra and 417 mm in Clyde (State of the Climate, 2013). 2.3 Drought In New Zealand, drought is also an indicator of climate change. Extended periods of dryness or drought-like conditions have occurred in New Zealand in most years. Based on the definitions of the many different types of drought, the major cause of such a phenomenon is an “abnormally dry weather” and “lack of rainfall” as well as “a deficit of water in the landscape, either in ground water reserves or in the surface hydrological system” (State of the Climate, 2013, p. 18). Moreover, drought occurs as a result of season and management practices such as stocking rate practices, supplementary feed and irrigation (State of the Climate, 2013). 2.4 Soil Moisture One indicator of drought or the state of drought is soil moisture deficit. In 2010, there have been several soil moisture deficits throughout the year particularly “extremely low rainfall” from January to March 2010 (State of the Climate, 2013, p. 18). Those affected included Waikato. Waikato was once more affected by large soil moisture deficits by the last quarter of 2010 because of extremely low rainfall. In 2011, there were rather short soil moisture deficits and most of these occurred during the beginning of the year in areas that included Waikato. In 2012, there have been evenly distributed soil moisture deficits throughout the year but especially beginning September and especially in the first half of December when the soils were “extremely dry” (State of the Climate, 2013, p. 20). 3. Hardware 3.1 Temperature and Humidity Sensor Certain sensors are indispensable in gauging indicators of global warming. One of these is the temperature and humidity sensor. The temperature and humidity sensor is a type of gadget that utilizes a capacitative humidity sensor as well as a thermistor in order to measure the surrounding air. This in turn spits out a digital signal on the data pin, although the gadget requires careful timing in order to obtain data. Although it can obtain new data only every after 2 seconds, the accuracy level of this gadget is still high (DHT22 temperature-humidity sensor, 2014). 3.2 Digital Light Sensor Module The Digital Light Sensor Module is a gadget with light intensity sensor module containing a built-in 16 bit AD converter that produces digital signals measurable through lux meters. Basically, this gadget measures light intensity or ambient light data and detecting it wide range at a high resolution (Digital Light Sensor Module, 2014). Two specifications of the Digital Light Sensor Module include a switchable voltage of 4.5V to 6V or 3.3V, and a required I2C bus Interface with 2 alternative address (Digital Light Sensor Module, 2014). 3.3 Soil Moisture Sensor The soil moisture sensor is an instrument used to gauge the amount of moisture in the soil. It is in fact perfect for monitoring an urban garden as well as for checking the plant’s water level. The sensor has two probes that actually pass current through the soil and uses this resistance in order to obtain the correct moisture level of the soil. It is based on the principle where the wet soil is a better electrical conductor while dry soil is a poor one. The soil moisture sensor is actually very helpful in reminding someone to monitor the exact soil moisture in the garden in order and to water indoor plants if necessary (Moisture Sensor, 2014). Some specifications of the soil moisture sensor include a power supply that should fall within the range of 3.3V or 5V, and a current of 35mA for a size estimated to have the dimensions of 60x20x5 mm. Moreover, calibration of the sensor requires 0-300 for dry soil, 300 to 700 for humid soil, and 700-950 when in water (Moisture Sensor, 2014). 3.4 Microcontroller A microcontroller is a gadget considered as a microcontroller board that uses ATmega328 datasheet as basis. It contains 14 digital input/output pins, 6 analog inputs, a crystal oscillarot, a USB connection, and ICSP header, a power jack and a reset button. It therefore contains everything that is necessary for the support of the microcontroller (Arduino Uno, 2014). The power source of the microcontroller is automatically selected. The power range recommended for this hardware is between 6 and 20 volts although ideally, one can operate the gadget using 7 to 12 volts. Slightly higher or lower values than this may actually cause a temporary malfunctioning of the hardware. Ideally too, the microcontroller uses a 3V3 (3.3 volt pin) that can actually supply a maximum current equivalent to 50mA (Arduino Uno, 2014). 3.5 Zigbee receiver A Zigbee receiver is a device that can transmit data over long distances by transmitting the data through intermediate devices until it reaches the more distant ones. Thus, it creates a so-called mesh network without a centralized control and where a central node is not necessary. Moreover, a Zigbee requires only low power for its operation. It is commonly used in applications that utilize low data rate and long battery life. Zigbee is considered more economical than Wifi and more efficient than Blue Tooth, and is regarded as a wonder in wireless technology. Zigbee wireless ideally requires a power of 2.7V to 3.3V and is connected to a microcontroller without any added power supply (What is Zigbee?, 2010). 4. Explanation for the Diagram for Mentoring and Controlling Drought in a Farm This is a diagram to measure the level of water in the tank. The time period for this is around 20 minutes. First, the sensor is used to measure the level of water in the tank. This corresponds to “Water Level < 50%”. If it is a no, then one needs to go to Loop time Wait and perform a restart. However, if it is a yes, then one goes to “Is Valve On = True.” From here one tries to find determine, if it is No, then go to “Open Valve Set Valve on = True.” However, a Yes would mean that one should go to “Its Float Closed.” After this, if it is a No, proceed to “Loop Time Wait” but if it is a Yes, then proceed to “Close Valve” in order to restart the whole process before you decide to recalculate. This is a diagram used in order to measure soil moisture. One should therefore start from “Is Soil Moisture < Pre set.” The answer of Yes should take one to “Is pump on = true” and from this, if the answer is No, then proceed to “Turn Pump on Set Pump on = true” but if it turns out to be a Yes, then one should proceed to “Is Pump fail”. One should know at this point if the pump is working or not. Ifthe pump fails to work, then proceed to send an email or set an alarm. If it is working then one should then proceed to “Loop Time Wait” then perform a restart. Going back to “Is Soil Moisture < Pre set,” the answer of No should take one to “V = Is pump on = true.” From this point, if the answer is a Yes, then go to “Turn Pump off Pump on = False” then to “Lopp Time Wait” then restart. However, if it is a No, then proceed to “Loop Time Wait”. References Arduino Uno. (2014). Retrieved from Future Electronics: http://store.fut-electronics.com/Ard-Uno.html DHT Temperature-Humidity Sensor. (2014). Retrieved from Ada Fruit: http://www.adafruit.com/products/385 Digital Light Sensor Module. (2014). Retrieved from Emartee: http://www.emartee.com/product/42142/Digital%20Light%20Sensor%20Module Moisture Sensor. (2014). Retrieved from DF Robot: http://www.dfrobot.com/wiki/index.php/Moisture_Sensor_(SKU:SEN0114) Preparing for Global Warming: A Framework for Protecting Community Health and the Environment in a Warmer World. (2008). Retrieved from the Natural Resources Defense Council: http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/files/preparedness.pdf State of the Climate 2013: A snapshot of recent climate in New Zealand (2010-2012). (2013). Retrieved from NIWA Taihoro Nukurangi: http://www.niwa.co.nz/sites/niwa.co.nz/files/sites/default/files/state_of_the_climate_2013.pdf What is Zigbee? (2010). Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBgcYT1riz8 Read More