Fin4Crop: Decision support system for smart agriculture

The range depends on neutron physics. At sea level, the standard measurement covers about 5 hectares (radius ~125m). As altitude increases, the air thins, allowing neutrons to travel further (e.g., at 2,000m, the radius reaches ~250m). The installation height also matters: typically installed 2m above ground for maximum range, lowering it reduces the footprint.

The probe measures the root zone, typically the first 30-50 cm of soil. This depth is dictated by the energy of cosmic ray neutrons and their interaction with hydrogen, providing a much more relevant dataset for agriculture compared to surface-only sensors.

Managing irrigation based on thousands of single points is operationally impossible. Since irrigation sectors typically cover large areas (hectares), having a highly accurate, representative average value for the entire sector eliminates the “noise” of local variations. This provides the maximum useful detail for effective agricultural water-management.

No. The CRNS technology counts neutrons, which are moderated almost exclusively by hydrogen (water). While soil minerals or organic matter may contain small amounts of hydrogen, this background level is constant. The variation in the signal is driven purely by changes in soil moisture, making the probe independent of soil texture or salinity.

Generally, the water content within crop biomass (e.g., a growing corn field) is negligible compared to the water in the soil volume and does not disturb the measurement. However, significant bodies of standing water, like nearby lakes or large rivers, can influence the signal and must be accounted for during installation.

Fin4Crop is a Decision Support System (DSS). It provides the essential data—integrating Soil Moisture, Field Capacity, and Wilting Point—to inform your decisions. Ideally, moisture levels should remain between the Wilting Point (to avoid stress) and Field Capacity (to avoid saturation and disease onset like Cercospora). While we provide the trigger data, the physical actuation depends on your specific irrigation controller integration.

Technically yes, as installation is simple and the probe operates anywhere. However, it is not recommended for the fixed station. The probe is designed to monitor a specific site over at least one season to provide consistent trends for irrigation management and to build a historical dataset for future predictive analysis.

Mapping allows you to visualize spatial variability within a field. Key benefits include:

• Generating 2D Soil Moisture Maps (approx. 10 hectares in 2.5 hours).
• Characterizing areas with similar hydrologic behavior.
• Checking irrigation system health (identifying clogged nozzles or leaks).
• Enabling VRT (Variable Rate) irrigation systems.

Yes. For mapping, we use a specific Mobile CRNS probe (Rover) which integrates high-precision GPS and has a higher sensitivity to count neutrons and muons while moving. This allows for the generation of soil moisture maps with a spatial resolution of about 10-20 meters.

No. The probe used for soil moisture mapping (Rover) differs from the fixed station model. The Rover is specifically engineered with enhanced counting capacity and integrated GPS to handle the dynamic nature of mobile measurement.