Experimental Assessment of Zigbee as the Communication Technology of a Wireless Sensor Network for Greenhouse Monitoring

Wireless Sensor Networks are considered an important part of the modern ICT solutions for greenhouse monitoring. Several communication technologies are already available and have been used both in pilot and commercial installations. Their attractiveness is based on their deployment flexibility and low cost. However, some special features of the greenhouses and their cultivations (variable microclimate conditions, greenhouse construction materials, size and composition of plants, spatiotemporally variable foliage) raise questions about the proper topology and network density in such an environment. In this paper, the findings of our experimentation regarding the use of ZigBee as the communication technology for a WSN deployed in a greenhouse complex with hydroponic cultivation of tomato crops are presented. Different topologies were investigated and the impact of the plants' foliage in the network nodes connectivity is assessed.