Real-time IoT-enabled water management for rooftop urban agriculture using commercial off-the-shelf products

Urban agriculture is receiving increased research attention not only for food security and public health but for mitigating the impacts of urbanization and climate change. In cities, rooftop urban farms provide a solution for the limited space at the ground level. However, rooftop urban farming poses several challenges, including increased need for workforce and site visits and demand for efficient water use. Recent advancements in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the Internet of Things (IoT) have enabled a tremendous suite of low-cost, wireless sensor nodes. In this work, an IoT-enabled approach is introduced to improve water management in an urban rooftop farm in downtown Toronto, Canada. Low-cost resistive water level sensors were calibrated and integrated into wireless sensor nodes to send data through LoRaWAN, an IoT protocol, to The Things Network (TTN) console, after which the processed data is visualized to the user dashboard. This paper addresses the main design stages, field deployment, and suggestions for maintenance learned through monitoring the growing season of 2021. The combination of low-cost sensors, user-friendly microcontrollers and open-source platforms provides an opportunity to improve decision-making, lower costs and reduce reliance on labour.