This $250,000 project grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Information and Intelligent Systems, under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering program (CFDA 47.070), will fund the development of a multi-modal integrated sensor system and through-the-soil wireless power transmission technique for continuous, real-time monitoring of soil variables over time and space. A collaboration between Tennessee Technological University, the University of Tennessee...
The National Science Foundation awarded a $282,000 Project Grant to Iowa State University under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships federal grant program (CFDA 47.084) to develop soil nutrient and moisture monitoring probe sensors. The university will advance sensors for agricultural monitoring by designing probes integrated with sensors to continuously monitor soil nitrogen, salinity, and moisture levels throughout corn crop cycles up to four months. The probes aim to optimize...
This $300,000 federal Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) program (CFDA 47.070) supports the development of a sustainable, intelligent wearable sensor system for continuous tree health monitoring. The primary goals are to: Create a biocompatible, ion-sensitive sensor array that can be implanted in a plant's xylem to continuously monitor water and nutrient uptake in real-time. Develop energy-harvesting techniques...
This federal Project Grant award for $601,248, awarded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program, aims to develop an automated soil moisture monitoring system for precision agriculture. The key products and services to be delivered include: Design, simulation, and characterization of passive soil moisture sensing coils that can measure soil moisture without requiring a power source. Development of machine...
The National Science Foundation awarded The University of Texas at Tyler $199,999 under the Engineering (47.041) federal grant program to develop integrated wearable sensors for monitoring crop health and productivity. Specifically, the university will design, fabricate, and validate sensors to quantitatively profile key plant hormones and metabolites in situ, providing real-time tracking of crop fitness in response to environmental stressors like drought and heat. Researchers will analyze...
This $750,000 Project Grant awarded by the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program supports research to enable the practical application of spectroscopy for in situ soil health assessment. The key objectives are to: (i) investigate different spectroscopic techniques for soil health assessment, (ii) study the effects of sample condition on soil spectra and mitigation strategies, and (iii) design, develop, and...
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $500,000 Project Grant under the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) program (CFDA 47.079) to Kansas State University to develop innovative sensors and modeling systems for sustainable agriculture. The "BIOSENSEINNOVATIONS" project focuses on tackling global challenges in nitrogen management and greenhouse gas emissions through the use of cutting-edge biosensors that can detect nutrients, chemical compounds, soil...
This three-year, $335,860 project grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems aims to develop strategies to enhance bioremediation of toxic chemical soil contamination. Specifically, the principal investigator at the State University of New York at Buffalo will investigate using chemical gradients to accelerate the transport of bacteria through soil matrices toward contamination sites. The research will experimentally...
This $299,997 project grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Capacity Building for Non-Land Grant Colleges of Agriculture (CFDA 10.326) program. The grant funds an integrated research, education, and outreach/extension project led by California State University-Bakersfield (CSUB) in partnership with the University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley) and University of California Cooperative Extension Kern County. The key...
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $135,920 EAGER Project Grant to the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (Tees) to conduct research focused on quantifying the value of information for sensor placements to improve soil moisture signals for agricultural water management. The award, which commenced on April 1, 2024 and is expected to be completed by September 30, 2025, is funded under the NSF Engineering program (CFDA 47.041). The project aims to develop a robust design...
This three-year project grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) totaling $398,998 will support the development of a multi-modal integrated sensor system and through-the-soil wireless power transmission technique for continuous monitoring of soil variables. The Research Foundation for the State University of New York at Buffalo will receive the funding and collaborate with Tennessee Technological University and the University of Tennessee Knoxville on this research under the NSF's Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049).
Specifically, the researchers aim to develop a sensor probe network that can analyze vapor phase analytes from buried soil to characterize soil health conditions in real-time. This will include sensors to detect soil gas flows such as carbon dioxide, ammonia, oxygen, and nitrous oxide. The project will also work to power the sensor system using through-soil wireless power transmission capable of transferring energy from a source to multiple sensor probes across wide areas without wires or batteries. The data collected will then be analyzed to build predictive algorithms for soil characterization and agricultural decision-making.