Advanced Moisture Sensing Technology for Urban Greenery and Monitoring of Slope Stability

Ministry of National Development (MND) Singapore under City of Tomorrow (CoT) grant call

The project develops advanced moisture sensing technology for urban greenery and monitoring of slope stability. The establishment of the moisture sensor networks on the testbed captures the real-time soil response to weather changes and plant growth. The scope of works are divided into four categories: To establish the correlation between soil-water characteristics and types of vegetation for different soil properties; To develop the appropriate criteria for pre-failure slope inspection; To investigate plant health and moisture content in various plants for the automated on-demand irrigation system; To develop moisture sensing technology for automated real-time collection of variations in soil moisture and suctions within unsaturated zone above the groundwater table. Upon completion of the project, a large-scale wireless sensing infrastructure can be established to transform city into a smart city that supports time-lapse instrumentation of the city and the environment. The new sensing infrastructure will provide insights into the mechanisms and climatic conditions that lead to slope instability and unhealthy plant growth. Such an intelligent sensing system will allow timely preventive measures to be taken to minimize the consequences of slope collapse, such as injuries to people, damage to buildings, and traffic congestion.