FALKER hidroFarm HFM3030 User manual

Manual
Digital Soil
Moisture Meter
hidroFarm
HFM3030
Revision A
06/2023
MAN_HFM3030

HFM3030
Digital Soil Moisture Meter
All rights reserved.
Falker Automação Agrícola tda.
Copying by any means of this document or part of it without prior written
authorization is expressly prohibited.
Fal er reserves the right to ma e changes to this document or to the
equipment without prior notice. The information contained in this document
is the most current at the time of publication and is provided to facilitate the
use of the equipment.
Although all precautions have been ta en in the preparation of this
document, Fal er assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions and
no liability is assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information
contained in this manual.
To facilitate understanding and highlighting important aspects, some information
is formatted as follows.
Note:
They present some detail or better explain some point of the text.
ATTENTION:
Indicate points to be observed by the user for correct use and
maintenance of the equipment.
CAUTION:
They warn of situations that can permanently damage the equipment or cause other serious
damages.
www.falker.com.br
[email protected]
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HFM3030
Digital Soil Moisture Meter
Índice
1 Introduction......................................................................................................4
2 The Equipment..................................................................................................5
2.1 Accessories.................................................................................................6
3 Basic concepts..................................................................................................7
3.1 Volumetric Humidity x Gravimetric Humidity..............................................7
3.2 Point of Permanent Wilt and Field Capacity..................................................7
3.3 Measurement range..................................................................................10
3.4 One-off measures....................................................................................10
3.5 Measurement of humidity in organic materials.........................................10
3.6 Sensor life................................................................................................11
3.7 Comparing measurements.......................................................................11
4 Installation......................................................................................................11
4.1 Direct Insertion.........................................................................................11
4.2 Insertion using Auxiliary Tool...................................................................12
4.3 Using and Installing the Extender..............................................................14
4.4 Connection Between Meter and Sensor......................................................15
5 Operation........................................................................................................16
5.1 Basic Operation.........................................................................................16
5.2 Basic operation.........................................................................................17
5.3 Data acquisition........................................................................................18
5.4 Data visualisation......................................................................................20
5.5 Manage.....................................................................................................21
5.6 Bluetooth..................................................................................................23
5.7 Settings....................................................................................................24
5.8 Internal GPS..............................................................................................24
5.9 Screens.....................................................................................................25
5.10 Fal er Water - Data Visualization and Analysis.........................................27
5.11 Data transfer...........................................................................................28
6 Basic maintenance...........................................................................................29
6.1 Battery charging........................................................................................29
6.2 Device cleaning.........................................................................................29
6.3 Software atualization................................................................................29
6.4 Another questions....................................................................................30
7 Technical specifications...................................................................................31
7.1 Dimensional information...........................................................................32
7.2 Anatel homologation for equipment HFM3030i.........................................32
7.3 CE and FCC mar ing for equipment HFM3030i..........................................32
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HFM3030
Digital Soil Moisture Meter
1 Introduction
The HidroFarm – Electronic Soil Moisture Meter - is an equipment that
allows the measurement of soil volumetric moisture in a simple and direct
way. It allows the technician responsible for the rapid identification of soil
moisture content to control the availability of water to the crop and, if
necessary, providing information for immediate change of water
management in the analyzed area.
The measurement is made by an electromagnetic measure called ISAF
(High Frequency Soil Impedance), which is proportional to the humidity. With
innovative technology, HidroFarm analyzes moisture at a higher
measurement volume and reduces the influence of other soil factors.
This manual covers all aspects related to the use of the equipment and
guidelines for starting to use the Web Application and Fal er Water App,
which allows the visualization and analysis of collected data. However, this
document is not an agronomic manual, and does not include post-
measurement actions related to the treatment of volumetric soil moisture
index.
Thank you for choosing Falker!
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Digital Soil Moisture Meter
2 The Equipment
The equipment is supplied in a canvas case, suitable for use in the field.
The following items are provided:
•Electronic equipment HFM3030
•1 HFM1010 Sensor
•Connection cable with HidroFarm Sensor
•Protective case
•Handle safety strap
•Warranty term
•General Start Guide
•USB-A – USB-C Cable
Figure 1: Equipment Set
ATTENTION:
As an accurate measurement device, the HFM3030 must be transported
with care. The equipment's case was designed to protect it in the best
possible way for transport, but combined with the practicality of use. It is
not a pac age to be transported as cargo.
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Digital Soil Moisture Meter
2.1 Accessories
In addition to the items that come with the equipment, the following
codes can be used to purchase accessories or replacement items.
Tabela 1: Accessories Commercial Codes
F K9020 USB-A - USB-C Cable
F K9030 USB-A Output Soc et Charger
HFM8200 HidroFarm Sensor Connection Cable
HFM1010 ISAF Soil Moisture Sensor 20 cm
HFM8330 Extender for sensor installation – 30 cm
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HFM3030
Digital Soil Moisture Meter
3 Basic concepts
This chapter presents some basic concepts for the user to carry out a
correct interpretation of the results obtained with the equipment, since the
determination of moisture is an essential factor for the success of several
interventions carried out in the soil..
3.1 Volumetric Humidity x Gravimetric Humidity
HidroFarm informs users the value of soil volumetric moisture in%, ie the volume
of water contained in a given volume of soil sample. It is the same moisture that is
obtained in the evaluation with undisturbed samples, withdrawn with rings of nown
volume. Volumetric moisture may be related to gravimetric moisture. Therefore, it is
necessary to now the soil density, since the gravimetric moisture refers to the
percentage of the sample weight corresponding to the water. The following formula
can be used to establish a relation:
•Gravimetric Humidity
Ug=mass of water(g)
mass of soil (g)×100
•Volumetric Humidity
Uv=Ug×100× Ds
from density to density alone (g / cm³), to gravimetric umidation (%) and to
volumetric umidation (%).
The density of water as 1 g / cm³ is considered in the formulas cited
above.
3.2 Point of Permanent Wilt and Field Capacity
There are two soil attributes that are fundamental for the understanding
and use of soil moisture data: the permanent wilting point (PMP) and the
field capacity (CC). The PMP is the moisture content at which the plant can
no longer draw water from the soil. CC is the maximum capacity of the soil
to retain water, above which losses occur due to percolation of water in the
profile or through surface runoff. These two factors are variable according to
the soil class. For a better understanding of these factors, it is recommended
to read the Nota de Aplicação – Aplicações do HidroFarm -
NAP_HFM2010_001, available on the Fal er website.
It is quite usual to manage irrigation systems with the use of these
attributes, triggering the systems before the soil reaches the PMP content
and turning off when the field capacity humidity is reached, reducing water
losses, reducing irrigation costs and increasing productivity. The
determination and classification of the type of the soil in which it is being
wor ed can be done with the data of% of clay that is obtained in physical
analyzes of the soil, using the triangle of figure 2.
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HFM3030
Digital Soil Moisture Meter
Figure 2: Soil texture classes triangle
The graph of Figure 3 shows the soil texture classes and their respective average
CC and PMP points for most volumetric moisture content cultures read in
HidroFarm.
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Digital Soil Moisture Meter
Figura 3: Moisture content ranges for soil classes.
Subtitle
CC – Field Capacity:
Maximum humidity for soil water storage.
Range of available soil water to plants.
PMP – Permanent Withering Point:
Humidity in which the plant dies from dehydration.
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Digital Soil Moisture Meter
3.3 Measurement range
The value reported by the meter refers to the average soil volumetric
moisture present at a distance of 15 cm from the sensor and along its 20 cm
length. See section 8 for more details.
Figure 4: Example of the area of coverage of the waves emitted by the sensor.
This feature may lead to an incorrect interpretation of the HidroFarm
values. Soon after a rainfall, natural or via central pivot, it is possible that
only part of the soil profile has been moistened, because the front of soil
wetting ta es some time to expand and stabilize according to the soil type,
being this time larger in clayey soils, which have a large presence of
micropores. Therefore, if the wetting front has reached only 10 cm, it means
that we will have another 10 cm of dry soil that will be in contact with the
plate. Thus, the reported value will be the average humidity of the 10 cm wet
and the other 10 cm dry.
The frequency range at which moisture is measured greatly reduces the
interference of factors such as texture and salinity, ensuring accuracy within
the limits of the equipment.
ATTENTION:
In order to obtain a measurement with greater
accuracy than those described in this manual, a
specific sensor calibration is recommended. There are
several methodologies available for this.
3.4 One-off measures
It is not possible to perform specific measurements of humidity with the
sensor, such as determining the exact humidity at 15 cm depth. If the sensor
is installed horizontally, at 15 cm depth, it will perform the average reading
in an area of 30 cm in diameter, that is, the range from 0 to 30 cm deep.
3.5 Measurement of humidity in organic materials
The use of the HidroFarm sensor to measure grain moisture or organic
maintenance is advisable only after a specific evaluation. The presence of
large air gaps between the particles of the material may impair the quality of
the measurement. A specific calibration is therefore required in these cases.
The standard equipment calibration was developed for mineral soils.
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