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Rangeland, measured where the herds move.

Ranches and pastoral communities graze large areas where rain is patchy and water is scarce. Rain gauges, soil probes, water point sensors and cameras report with satellite forage maps to one record, so herders, ranchers and agencies see the range before drought takes hold.

Industry

Agriculture

Measurements

5

Sources cited

4

1. Agriculture · Rangeland and pastoralism

   Rain falls in patches

   On open range, rain falls in patches and grass follows it. Herders read the land with long experience, but drought builds across areas no one person can see, and a failed water point can cost a herd. Measuring rain, soil, water points and forage across the range shares that view with everyone who depends on it.

2. What is measured

   Rain, soil, water points and forage

   Rain gauges and soil probes across each grazing unit measure what fell and what the soil holds. Level sensors and cameras at troughs, tanks and boreholes show which water points are full, low or failing. Satellite imagery maps forage across the range, checked on monitoring plots.

   Instruments

   Rain gauges · Soil probes · Water point levels · Cameras · Satellite imagery

3. The base node

   A node that saves the satellite link

   Each point signs its readings and sends short messages to the unit’s node. The node totals rain and water use each day, flags a water point that stops filling, and sends camera stills only on alarm or schedule, so the satellite link carries what matters.

4. Radio and links

   LoRaWAN to the hill, satellite to the world

   Points spread across a grazing unit reach a solar gateway on a hill over LoRaWAN. Where no network reaches, a satellite terminal at the gateway carries the unit’s small traffic; where a ranch house or village has coverage, cellular is the cheaper path.

   Links

   Satellite · LoRaWAN · Public cellular

5. How it works

   From a dry trough to a herder’s phone

   A trough level falls and does not recover. The endpoint signs the reading and sends it over LoRaWAN to the gateway, where the node sees the water point failing and sends an alarm over satellite. The herder or water committee gets a message, and the record keeps the repair.

6. From order to operation · Order

   Scope the range and the decisions

   The scope reads the grazing units, water points, herd movements and the early warning arrangements the area depends on. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the point plan by unit and water point, the satellite and LoRaWAN design, the integration with agencies and a price per point and per service.

   Plan a deployment

7. From order to operation · Survey

   Survey with the herders

   Crews travel the range with ranchers or pastoral elders to find representative rain gauge sites, soil probe points and the water points that matter most. They choose a hill for the gateway, confirm sky view for satellite and note where livestock and wildlife could damage equipment.

8. From order to operation · Permits

   Land, communities and consent

   On communal land the community agrees through its own institutions, in writing, and keeps a say over the data. On ranches the landholder agrees. Data sharing with drought agencies is set out, so information that helps herders reaches them first.

9. From order to operation · Build

   Build to be left alone

   Gauges, probes, water point sensors, cameras, endpoints and the solar gateway are built for dust, heat and animals, tested together and enrolled with their identities. Each point is configured for its unit and its alarms, and labelled so a herder can report it by name.

   Open the Station Builder

10. From order to operation · Install

    Install with fences and care

    Crews set rain gauges level and clear of obstructions, place soil probes, fit level sensors and cameras at water points, and raise the gateway and satellite terminal on the hill. Points are fenced against livestock where needed, and every point is located and photographed.

11. From order to operation · Commission

    Check, then hand over

    Each device proves its identity. Rain gauges are checked with a measured volume, water point levels against a dip, and the satellite link against its first messages. Alarms are tested to the ranch manager or the community contact, who is shown how to read the record.

12. From order to operation · Operate

    Move herds on evidence

    Ranchers and herders see rain, soil moisture and forage by unit and which water points are full, low or failing. Drought agencies see the same signals across the area, with satellite forage maps checked on plots, and warnings go out before the dry season bites.

13. From order to operation · Maintain

    One visit a year, and repairs on call

    A yearly visit cleans gauges and panels, checks sensors against references and changes batteries on plan. Water point faults reported by the system or by herders are repaired on call. Every change is recorded, so long rain and forage series stay consistent.

    Book field services

14. Data products

    For herders, ranchers and agencies

    Ranchers and herders receive rain, soil moisture and water point status by unit; community water committees receive alarms; range managers receive forage maps; drought agencies and pastoral associations receive early warning signals across the area. Each product carries its source and the siting behind it.

    See the data products

15. Evidence

    Long records for hard years

    Every reading, alarm and repair is signed and kept with its time and place. Rain is measured to WMO practice, range condition follows recognised range monitoring methods, and forage maps come from open satellite data checked on plots, so long series stay comparable through dry years and wet.

    Drawn against

    WMO-No. 8 · WMO-No. 134 · NRCS National Range and Pasture Handbook · Copernicus Sentinel-2

16. What you get

    Agricultural field observatories

    Soil moisture profiles, micro-weather and evapotranspiration with irrigation thresholds per field. Delivered as managed service and data licence, for growers, agribusiness, irrigation districts, crop insurers. Scale: Farm to region. Service levels are written as numbers you can measure on your own dashboard.

    Talk to sales

17. Next step

    Plan rangeland and pastoralism with us

    Tell us the site, the measurements and the rules it answers to. We reply with a survey proposal, a design and a scope for rangeland and pastoralism. An engineer replies with a survey proposal and a scope, and the plan grows from one site to the network you need, at your pace.

    Plan a deploymentOpen the Station BuilderOpen the Studio

01The place and its hazards

Where it runs, and what can go wrong.

Operating contextRangelands cover vast areas of grass and shrub grazed by cattle, sheep, goats and camels, on ranches and by mobile pastoralists. Forage follows patchy rain, water points are few and far apart, and drought builds slowly then strikes hard. Range managers monitor vegetation and use, and early warning systems help herders and agencies act ahead of drought.

Hazards

• Drought and forage failure
• Water points failing or running dry
• Overgrazing and land degradation
• Livestock losses in heat and cold
• Remote sites with no network or power

02What must be measured

What, where, how often, and under which rules.

Each measurement names where it is taken, how often, and the public standard or regulation behind it. Numbers in the sources column open the cited source below.

03The observation stack

From one base unit to a network.

The same blocks at every scale: instruments and a base node, a site with its radio, a fleet run as one, and a network federated on the open protocol.

1. 01

   Base unit

   A range point: a rain gauge and soil probe on a LoRaWAN endpoint, or a water point with its level sensor and camera.

   Build a station →
2. 02

   Site

   A grazing unit: points across it, a solar gateway on a hill and a satellite link to the ranch or agency.

   Plan a site →
3. 03

   Fleet

   Every unit of a ranch, a conservancy or a pastoral area run as one fleet, with one record.

   Managed offers →
4. 04

   Network

   Ranchers, pastoral associations and drought agencies exchange rain, forage and water point records through open standards.

   The open protocol →

• 01Compact weather station
• 02Soil probe
• 03Water level gauge
• 04Fixed camera
• 05LPWAN endpoint
• 06LoRaWAN gateway
• 07Micro node (Nano)
• 08LEO flat-panel terminal
• 09Solar array
• 10Pole

Radio and links

Satellite

Most range is beyond cellular; a satellite terminal at the gateway carries the unit’s small traffic.

Radio and links

LoRaWAN

Points spread across a grazing unit reach a solar gateway on a hill at very low power.

Radio and links

Public cellular

Where a ranch house or village has coverage, it is the cheaper path for the gateway.

Edge computeThe unit’s node totals rain and water use each day, flags water points that stop filling or run low, and sends camera stills of water points only on alarm or on schedule to save the satellite link.

PowerEverything runs on solar and batteries sized for long dry seasons and dust; points are built to be left alone for a year.

04How it works

From the instrument to the product.

One observation’s path, tier by tier, with the interface on every link and a bill of materials below; then how the one node grows to a site, a fleet and federated networks.

05From order to operation

Every step, from the first call to a running site.

The same crew and the same record carry the work from scope to maintenance.

1. 01 Order

   Scope the range and the decisions

   The scope reads the grazing units, water points, herd movements and the early warning arrangements the area depends on. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the point plan by unit and water point, the satellite and LoRaWAN design, the integration with agencies and a price per point and per service. 3

2. 02 Survey

   Survey with the herders

   Crews travel the range with ranchers or pastoral elders to find representative rain gauge sites, soil probe points and the water points that matter most. They choose a hill for the gateway, confirm sky view for satellite and note where livestock and wildlife could damage equipment.

3. 03 Permits

   Land, communities and consent

   On communal land the community agrees through its own institutions, in writing, and keeps a say over the data. On ranches the landholder agrees. Data sharing with drought agencies is set out, so information that helps herders reaches them first.

4. 04 Build

   Build to be left alone

   Gauges, probes, water point sensors, cameras, endpoints and the solar gateway are built for dust, heat and animals, tested together and enrolled with their identities. Each point is configured for its unit and its alarms, and labelled so a herder can report it by name.

5. 05 Install

   Install with fences and care

   Crews set rain gauges level and clear of obstructions, place soil probes, fit level sensors and cameras at water points, and raise the gateway and satellite terminal on the hill. Points are fenced against livestock where needed, and every point is located and photographed. 1

6. 06 Commission

   Check, then hand over

   Each device proves its identity. Rain gauges are checked with a measured volume, water point levels against a dip, and the satellite link against its first messages. Alarms are tested to the ranch manager or the community contact, who is shown how to read the record.

7. 07 Operate

   Move herds on evidence

   Ranchers and herders see rain, soil moisture and forage by unit and which water points are full, low or failing. Drought agencies see the same signals across the area, with satellite forage maps checked on plots, and warnings go out before the dry season bites. 43

8. 08 Maintain

   One visit a year, and repairs on call

   A yearly visit cleans gauges and panels, checks sensors against references and changes batteries on plan. Water point faults reported by the system or by herders are repaired on call. Every change is recorded, so long rain and forage series stay consistent.

06Data products and integration

What it delivers, to whom, and into which systems.

Data products

• Rain and soil moisture by grazing unitRanchers and herders
• Water point status and alarmsRanch managers and community water committees
• Forage condition mapsRange managers and drought agencies
• Drought early warning signalsAgencies and pastoral associations

Integration

• Drought early warningRain, soil moisture and forage signals are delivered to the agency’s early warning system.
• Ranch or community toolsSimple views and text messages for herders, served from the same record.
• Range monitoringPlot records and forage maps join the range monitoring programme with their coordinates.

Exchanged through OGC SensorThings API, Common Alerting Protocol, WMO WIS 2.0.

07Questions buyers ask

Before you scope it.

Does this work without any network?

Yes. Each grazing unit has its own satellite link, powered by the sun.

Who owns the data on communal land?

The community, through its own institutions; sharing with agencies is agreed in writing.

Will animals damage the equipment?

Points are placed and fenced with herders’ advice, and built to be repaired quickly.

How do herders see the information?

On simple views or text messages, in the language the community uses.

08Resources

The sources behind this page.

Public standards, regulations and guidance, cited where they apply. Each applies only where its jurisdiction or scope does.

1. 1Guide to Instruments and Methods of Observation (WMO-No. 8)World Meteorological Organization
2. 2Guide to Agricultural Meteorological Practices (WMO-No. 134)World Meteorological Organization · 2010
3. 3National Range and Pasture HandbookUnited States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service
4. 4Copernicus Sentinel-2 missionEuropean Space Agency

09Related

Use cases and solutions.

10Agriculture: specialized fields

Other fields of this industry.

Bring us the site.

Plan a deployment, configure a station, model it in the Studio or talk to sales. The form names who receives your details.