LoRaVine: using LoRaWAN for smart vineyards microclimate monitoring

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) paradigm promises to increase efficiency of a production system providing comprehensive awareness about the whole process. Such an approach has been suggested for the smart farming domain as well. A key requirements is the geographical coverage of the communication infrastructure, preserving batteries and device cost. Fortunately, Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs) are nowadays available, able to cope with these challenges. In this paper, a low-cost, modular weather station based on LoRaWAN is presented, addressing the microclimate monitoring of vineyards. The growers can identify potential issues, as the onset of diseases or water stress, before they become severe. The proposed solution has been tested in a real-world scenario (a farm in northern Italy), collecting temperature, humidity, and air/soil environmental data. Farmers can retrieve information from web-accessible dashboards, after processing of raw data. Experiments have been carried out in March and April 2023, and the results about coverage and time performance of the communication infrastructure confirm the feasibility of the proposed approach. A single, well-located, GW is enough to collect data from five different stations spread on a 10(5) m(2) area, sending updates every 10 minutes, with an SNR in the order of 10 decibels (dB).