AUTOMATED COLLECTION OF TEMPERATURE DATA FROM THE SOIL PROFILE

Abstract

A relatively simple solution for collecting temperature data from soil profile is presented. The first step was to choose the appropriate thermal sensors for the system as the system was intended to measure typical outside temperatures in Central Europe with an accuracy of ±0.5 °C. Multiple parameters had to be considered, such as the type of sensor, resolution, energy consumption, scalability, ease of use, etc. It was decided to use Maxim DS18B20 sensor with an accuracy of ±0.5 °C and highest resolution of 0.0625 °C using one-wire communication protocol. The second step involved rapid proto-typing of interface allowing connection of the sensor network to the supervisory computer. The final stage dealt with the software layers of the system. The firmware interfaces input commands from the serial port of the computer and a network of sensors via a set of commands. A simple script was programmed to store measured data into the database. A website as a graphical user interface to access data evaluation tools and create output of graphical representation of the measured data was created. The measured data were used to analyze correlation between temperature changes and damages on water pipelines.