As climate change makes droughts and water shortages increasingly severe, the need to appropriately manage soil moisture conditions in crop fields is becoming more important.

For example, if irrigation is delayed and crops experience water stress, crop yields may decrease. On the other hand, if farmers irrigate too early because they are uncertain about the appropriate timing, the amount of water lost through deep percolation, which cannot be used by crops, may increase. This not only wastes valuable water resources, but may also lead to salt accumulation, potentially making the field unsuitable for cultivation.

Therefore, it is first necessary to understand the soil moisture conditions in the field. To address this issue, we are developing a method for observing root-zone soil moisture using drones. In addition, because water movement within the soil cannot be directly observed, we are using computer simulations to estimate it and explore appropriate methods for soil moisture management.

If drones become capable of automatically flying within a given agricultural area, observing the moisture conditions of each field, and delivering that information to farmers, agricultural producers will be able to check the soil moisture status of each field on their smartphones and manage irrigation more appropriately. However, it is still completely unclear how much the information delivered to smartphones can contribute to food production in a given area, and this needs to be clarified through field demonstration trials.

Through the use of drones and computer simulations for soil moisture management in agricultural fields, we aim to contribute to global food production.