Remote Sensing Device for Water Level and Discharge Monitoring of Agricultural Irrigation Canal

Abstract

Efficient water management is an effective tool in the agricultural aspect. This was implemented by monitoring water depth and discharge supplying water to agricultural fields along irrigation canals. The same method was needed in studying agricultural irrigation canals as small-scale water source of energy. To provide access on continuous water profile monitoring, the fabrication of a remote sensing monitoring device was conducted and experimentally observed for data validation. The device was supplied by solar power, to provide the power requirement of its hardware including an ultrasonic sensor, a microcontroller, and a wireless communication system. The device was also used to measure the temperature and humidity of the area location. Data monitoring uses Arduino program. Through microcontroller, the whole system of the device gathered and processed the data and sent it to the registered cellphone number through SMS. The accuracy of the data measurement of the device was validated through simultaneous manual measurement of the water level. Results show that at a 5% level of significance, there is no significant difference between the manual measurements to the device measurement only when the ultrasonic sensor was at 100 centimeters and 120 centimeters above the water floor level. The study then recommended the use of monitoring devices as primary data in assessing the water power capacity of the stream specifically the agricultural irrigation canal as a small-scale water resource as well as for the water management techniques in the irrigating agricultural area.