Low-cost sensor network for monitoring on-farm agricultural greenhouse gas emissions

Overview

Agricultural operations are a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but current monitoring relies on a small number of expensive point sensors that provide limited insight into where and when emissions occur. This solution proposes a distributed network of low-cost sensors (LCS) strategically placed across the farm landscape to capture near real-time GHG concentrations and their spatio-temporal dynamics. By translating proven urban air quality monitoring architectures to rural environments, the approach aims to give farmers, agronomists, and sustainability teams the data-dense information needed to make management decisions that meaningfully reduce emissions.

Technical specifications

Sensor network design:

• A flagship network of high-readiness CO2 sensors deployed at six strategic positions across three UK test farms representing light, medium, and heavy soils under mixed, conventional, and regenerative management
• Each site equipped with a Gill ultrasonic anemometer and automatic rainfall sensor to capture meteorological context
• Sensor output integrated with a validated atmospheric model to produce spatial maps of the emission footprint
• Reference instruments provide ongoing calibration checks for data quality assurance
• Parallel development of prototype methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) sensors currently at lower technology readiness levels
• Farm management and environmental datasets merged to identify factors driving emissions patterns

Core capabilities:

• Near real-time streaming of GHG concentration data
• Spatio-temporal mapping of emission sources and hotspots
• Scalable architecture adapted from urban air quality monitoring systems
• Integration pathway for additional gas species as sensor maturity increases

Technology readiness level

The CO2 sensor component is at a high technology readiness level, drawing on extensive prior deployment of rugged low-cost sensor networks in urban air quality and GHG monitoring applications, including recent agricultural use through the Protecting the Fens project. The methane and nitrous oxide sensor prototypes remain at lower readiness levels and are being advanced in parallel. Current validation is focused on three UK test farms spanning diverse soil types and management systems, with reference-device calibration and atmospheric modelling integration underway to demonstrate the practical value of the network for farm-level emissions management.