Unwired wine: sensor networks in vineyards

This paper describes the design, deployment, and output of a large-scale wireless sensor network in agriculture. We began with ethnographic research to determine needs. This research informed the design of a network that was then deployed in a working vineyard. Finally, the sensor data were analyzed for agricultural significance. Our dense-monitoring of temperature allowed us to track, among other things, not only fruit maturity as it responded to heat accumulation and but also damage from freezing as the plants entered dormancy. This paper shows that dense on-the-ground monitoring can have a substantial impact on agricultural practices, quality, yield, and, most significantly, the value of the crop. More than that, this paper demonstrates how a working deployment that provides return on investment (ROI) for the sensor network owner requires domain knowledge about the phenomena to be monitored.