ISHS Acta Horticulturae 562: III International Symposium on Sensors in Horticulture
APPLICATION OF ISFET BASED SENSORS TO SOIL ANALYSIS |
| Authors: | J. Artigas, A. Beltran, J. Alonso, J. Bartrolí, C. Jiménez, J. Muñoz, R. Mas, C. Domínguez |
| Abstract:
Standard methods to measure nutrient levels in soil are complex and time consuming due to the extraction and pre-treatment processes involved. The instrumentation used for these measurements is also expensive. Therefore, the use of chemical sensors would be interesting since they can be applied directly to the soil. Thus, it would provide results in real or quasi real time at a moderate cost. The control of these nutrients will permit an optimisation of the overall production process of the crop. Besides, this approach will be useful for reducing the environmental impact caused by excess of nutrients in crop soils. In this work, the use of chemical sensors based on Ion Sensitive Field Effect Transistors (ISFETs) for soil analysis is proposed. These devices are fabricated with microelectronic technology -providing this fact some important advantages- but their mechanism of response are similar to that of Ion selective electrodes (ISEs). Fabrication of pH, Ca2+, K+ and NO3- ISFETs and their evaluation in aqueous solutions is reported. From the preliminary results of their application in soils it is possible to confirm their feasibility as sensors for in-soil monitoring and the promising future applications they have. | |
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