Abstract: Rapid advancement of the information-based technologies provides opportunities for breakthroughs in agricultural applications as well.The environmental parameters on the farmland can now be monitored in real time through the use of state-of-the-art sensing devices.In turn,the collected data would be the basis for precision controls.The present system was established for agricultural applications based on wireless sensing networks.It employed real-time online monitoring to generate needed environmental data,and consisted of wireless sensors,gateway and control center.The sensing network applied the hierarchical clustering algorithm for its topology,and the sleep-schedule on the sensors for energy-savings.The sensor nodes were designed based on CC2530 chip with the ZigBee protocol.The structures of applied system and ZigBee sensor node,as well as the software,are presented.The trial runs showed that the system was effective in data collection and network communication.In addition,the sleep-schedule not only reduced the energy consumption but also significantly prolonged the hardware's useful lifespan.

Key words: wireless sensing network, precision control agriculture, ZigBee