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Lysimeters are essential for quantifying soil water content and evapotranspiration, but their high cost limits widespread adoption. This study developed a cost effective, IoT-enabled weighing lysimeter to measure crop evapotranspiration (ET c ) in shallow-rooted crops and enhance sustainable irrigation management. The system, with a 1.38 m² surface area and a one-ton single-point load cell, integrated soil moisture and temperature sensors at three depths and a waterproof ultrasonic sensor for drainage measurement. Data were stored locally on an SD card and transmitted to the cloud via the ThingSpeak IoT platform for real-time monitoring. Field validation with wheat during the 2022-23 winter season recorded a total ET c of 331.9 mm with high accuracy ( R ² = 0.998) and a resolution of 0.20 mm. The total cost of construction was approximately USD 709, making it a highly cost-effective and practical alternative to conventional lysimeter systems. The developed system enables affordable, accurate, and continuous water monitoring, supporting efficient irrigation scheduling and sustainable water resource management.
Gupta et al. (Wed,) studied this question.