In this study, a soil moisture-based wireless sensor network (SM-WSN) was transferred to support irrigation management at field scale. This smart irrigation service comes from a necessity and willingness to upgrade the regional weather-based decision support system of the Tuscany region (Italy). The sensor network was designed, hydrologically, and agronomically validated in a commercial pear orchard during four growing seasons (2019–2022). Initially, the micro irrigation system was assessed based on its water distribution uniformity (DU) performance. Then, a zoning analysis was carried out to delineate homogeneous areas according to the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and soil bulk electrical conductivity (ECb). Unlike the ordinary irrigation scheduling applied in the farm, the smart system allowed maintaining the soil water content within a pre-defined optimal range, in which the upper and lower limits corresponded respectively to the soil field capacity and the threshold below which water stress occurs. Based on the smart irrigation management, a water-saving up to 50 % of the total water supplied with the ordinary scheduling was achieved during the investigated growing seasons. Moreover, the quality of the productions (i.e., °Brix, fruit size and flesh firmness) was in line with the standard market reference values. Consequently, the adoption of the new technology, which aims to identify the most appropriate irrigation management, has the potential to generate positive economic returns and reduce environmental impacts.

中文翻译：

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用于梨园智能灌溉的基于土壤水分的无线传感器网络的设计和验证


在这项研究中，转移了基于土壤水分的无线传感器网络 （SM-WSN） 以支持田间规模的灌溉管理。这种智能灌溉服务来自于升级托斯卡纳地区（意大利）基于天气的区域决策支持系统的必要性和意愿。传感器网络是在四个生长季节 （2019-2022） 的商业梨园中设计、水文和农艺验证的。最初，根据其水分分布均匀性 （DU） 性能评估微灌系统。然后，进行分区分析，根据归一化差值植被指数 （NDVI） 和土壤体电导率 （ECb） 划定均质区域。与农场中应用的普通灌溉调度不同，智能系统允许将土壤含水量保持在预定义的最佳范围内，其中上限和下限分别对应于土壤田容量和发生水分胁迫的阈值。基于智能灌溉管理，在所调查的生长季节，实现了高达 50% 的正常调度总供水量。此外，产品的质量（即 °Brix、果实大小和果肉硬度）符合标准市场参考值。因此，采用旨在确定最合适的灌溉管理的新技术有可能产生积极的经济回报并减少对环境的影响。