Martín et al. (2026) Out-of-the-box performance and cost-effectiveness of soil moisture sensors for precision irrigation

Identification

• Journal: Smart Agricultural Technology
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-11
• Authors: Elisa Pérez Martín, Javier Martinez Moreno, Celia Herrero, Francisco Lafuente, Marı́a-Belén Turrión, Francisco Javier Sanz‐Ronda, Juan Francisco Fuentes‐Pérez
• DOI: 10.1016/j.atech.2026.102564

Research Groups

• Group of Soil Quality and Sustainability, Department of Agroforestry Science, Sustainable Forest Management Research Institute, University of Valladolid, ETSIIAA.
• Grupo de Ecohidr´aulica y Ecohidrología Aplicada, Department of Agricultural and Forest Engineering, Sustainable Forest Management Research Institute, University of Valladolid, ETSIIAA.

Short Summary

This study evaluated 17 commercially available soil moisture sensors for precision irrigation, assessing their out-of-the-box performance and cost-effectiveness. The results showed that some low-to-mid-cost frequency-domain reflectometry (FDR)-based sensors can provide a favorable balance between accuracy, affordability, robustness, and deployment simplicity.

Objective

• Evaluate the practical suitability of commercially available soil moisture sensors for precision irrigation.
• Assess the out-of-the-box performance and cost-effectiveness of 17 soil moisture sensors across different technologies.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Laboratory experiments were conducted on three soil types (sandy, clay loam, and clay) under controlled conditions.
• Temporal Scale: Measurements were taken at six nominal moisture levels for each soil type, with a stabilization time before recording each measurement.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: A unified acquisition workflow was developed to integrate heterogeneous devices and retain the most representative operational output of each sensor.
• Data sources: Gravimetric water content was determined experimentally for each condition, serving as the reference value in the analysis.

Main Results

• S-Soil MTEC-02A, HydraProbe, TDR-315H, and TEROS 11 exhibited the highest consistency with the reference moisture trend and the lowest post-calibration errors.
• The multicriteria cost-effectiveness analysis showed that some low-to-mid-cost FDR-based sensors can provide a favorable balance between accuracy, affordability, robustness, and deployment simplicity.

Contributions

• This study provides a comprehensive evaluation of commercially available soil moisture sensors for precision irrigation, addressing the need for practical sensor selection.
• The results support the use of low-to-mid-cost FDR-based sensors as a cost-effective option for precision irrigation applications.

Funding

• This research was funded by projects and programs from the University of Valladolid and the Sustainable Forest Management Research Institute.

Citation

@article{Martín2026Outofthebox,
  author = {Martín, Elisa Pérez and Moreno, Javier Martinez and Herrero, Celia and Lafuente, Francisco and Turrión, Marı́a-Belén and Sanz‐Ronda, Francisco Javier and Fuentes‐Pérez, Juan Francisco},
  title = {Out-of-the-box performance and cost-effectiveness of soil moisture sensors for precision irrigation},
  journal = {Smart Agricultural Technology},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.atech.2026.102564},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atech.2026.102564}
}