Sentek
Sensor technologies for measuring and managing soil moisture, salinity and temperature
Description
Sentek Sensor Technologies is an international company delivering technologies to measure and understand soil moisture, temperature and salinity data time series. Sentek’s technologies can be used to monitor groundwater movement, generate research data and gain insights into crop water usage to make better irrigation decisions. The company obtained the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001 certification.
Technology
Soil Data Probes use capacitance-based technology. Soil profile measurements can be taken on a continuous basis. The probes offer high resolution measurings and enable 1/100 percent change repeatability. The sensors can distinguish between soil water and salinity content. Data transfer tools help gather information collected by the probes. Irrigation Decision Aiding Software then instantly show changes in soil moisture, salinity and temperature. The software can display data from individual sensors at various depths or from all the sensors combined to show various parameters, such as the effectiveness and depth of infiltration of rainfall and irrigation, the depth of the active root zone at different times of the growing season, deep drainage, the amount of water uptake and evapotranspiration from different parts of the root zone, fluctuating water tables
Target
The main users of Sentek products are farmers who can afford the technology to save on input costs, reduce waste, increase crop yield and quality, and ensure long-term sustainability. The company claims that more than 10 000 farms use Sentek products to monitor and measure moisture, salinity, and temperature for a wide range of crops, soil types, and climates.
Business model
Sentek technology delivers paid products and services. Prices of some of the Sintek products are available through third party websites. Prices of probes vary between about USD 200 and 900. Additional tools, such as, probe installation or extraction kits are between USD 600 and 1400. It is also possible to request quotations that are tailored by the company according to the user requirements.
Impact
Growers can use Sentek technologies to save on water input costs, reduce waste, increase crop yield and quality and ensure long-term sustainability. The insights can be used to identify yearly patterns, and make accurate forecasts about crop, soil and salinity management to fine-tune dryland and irrigation farm management practices. The solution is meant to collect and show data to enhance soil management decisions. Particularly, some case studies highlighted how the use of Sentek monitoring allowed drip irrigation to reach a depth of no more than 40-50cm, (the root zone) rather than a depth of 90cm as done before the introduction of Sentek. Watering durations were also reduced from 6 to 3 hours, halving the amount of water applied, while still maintaining average productivity.
Partners
The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) - Battelle; CSIRO; University of South Australia; IAEA; USDA; Business SA; Walter Industry Alliance; Impact awards; EY Entrepreneur of the year; Australian Trade and Investment commission;
Four Betters
Better production
