Sensor deployment guide
Start with zones,
not a sensor count.
There is no honest universal distance between farm sensors. A station represents a management zone only when soil, crop, irrigation and topography behave similarly. A field survey and agronomist review decide final locations.
How a site is divided
- Separate a block where soil texture, rooting depth, slope, irrigation set, crop variety, canopy or drainage is materially different.
- Place a soil station in a representative active-root location - away from wheel tracks, emitters, edges, wet spots and obvious anomalies unless that anomaly is deliberately being monitored.
- Use two stations where a zone contains a meaningful wet/dry, high/low or upper/lower-slope contrast. Distance alone is not a reliable rule.
- At each station, select sensor depths from the crop's active root profile. A typical pilot tests shallow and deeper root-zone positions, then confirms them with the adviser and installer.
Illustrative starting layouts
A5 ha uniform irrigated block1 soil station + 1 local weather source + 1-2 trap positions
B20 ha farm with 4 distinct management zones4-6 soil stations + 1 weather station + 4-8 trap positions
C20 ha with strong slope or soil variation6-8 soil stations + 1 weather station + targeted traps
These are planning examples only. A pilot may deliberately instrument fewer zones first to prove the workflow. They are not a promise of coverage or accuracy.
Try an indicative first-pass count
Method: one representative soil station per zone, multiplied by within-zone variation; round up. Confirm final positions through a site survey, installation check and soil profile review.