ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to develop and validate UMITEMP, an intuitive system for real‐time monitoring of air temperature (Ta) and relative humidity (RH) in cold rooms for table grape storage. The system integrates hardware and software with wireless radio‐frequency communication and a web‐based interface. A wireless sensor network (WSN) was distributed within the cold room, collecting data every minute and displaying it in interactive charts and maps. Individual calibration of capacitive humidity sensors was required to ensure accuracy. WSN signal quality was unaffected by wall insulation or sensor distance. During the experimental period, RH ranged from 71% to 100%, averaging 85%, below the recommended level for seedless grape storage. The average Ta was 0.4°C, slightly above the ideal range, with maxima of 5.4°C and minima of −1.9°C. Internal spatial variability was observed, with lower Ta and RH variance than in the adjacent corridor, which was more influenced by external conditions and showed temperature increases during weekdays. Results demonstrate that UMITEMP is an effective tool for continuous real‐time monitoring of cold rooms, supporting proper management of fresh fruit storage, such as table grapes.
Freire et al. (Fri,) studied this question.