Design of a Long-term Monitoring Device to Measure Groundwater Temperature and Relative Humidity in the South Bandung Basin Rim

Abstract

One of the methods to investigate the possibility of landslides is to observe the water infiltration rate into the soil by measuring the soil's temperature and humidity at several soil depths below the soil surface. Monitoring those variables provides valuable information for assessing groundwater conditions and preventing natural disasters. However, no specifically developed system can monitor those variables in the field until this study is reported. This research focuses on establishing a hardware system for monitoring the soil's temperature and humidity using an array of sensors for hydrological monitoring. Due to extreme weather and limited data transmission networks, employing monitoring systems in harsh environments presents a significant challenge. This investigation involved the monitoring system in monitoring soil temperature and moisture at Mount Malabar. The system comprises an SHT20 sensor array, a microcomputer serving as the central unit and data recorder, a data transmission module, and cloud-based long-term data storage. SHT20 sensors are a fully calibrated type with a temperature accuracy of 99.99%, while relative humidity accuracy ranges from ±3 to ±5. This research has successfully demonstrated soil temperature and relative humidity measurements at depths ranging from 0 cm to 30 cm below the soil surface with a spacing of 5 cm. Monitoring data was continuously tested every 10 minutes and showed the system's reliability and durability for at least three months.

Keywords

• soil water sensor
• temperature
• relative humidity
• groundwater
• hydrology