10 Risk Protocols

10.1 Soil moisture

Forecasting dry soil is the first step in irrigation control. The forecast is simply the moisture content of the soil.

When soil moisture reaches a certain level, an alert needs to be generated. A risk protocol defines the soil moisture level that triggers an alert. The risk protocol is governed by a few factors:

• associated crop
• growth stage of crop

Each plant has its own water needs, so risk protocols need to be plant-specific. We assume the soil moisture sensor is for horticulture or agriculture, so there is a specific crop that the sensor is associated with. This could be an herb, a vegetable, or even an ornamental.

Water needs vary depending on the growth stage of the plant. When beets are young, they are intentionally stressed with less water to promote root development. Beans need plenty of water during pod formation. To simplify the model, we can ignore the growth stage aspect of the plant and pick one value.