
How It Works.
Buried sensors. Wireless data. Clear irrigation decisions.
Three steps. Then it runs itself.
AcreLink is installed once and left alone. Nodes transmit automatically, data flows to your dashboard, and you check it when you need to make an irrigation call — not because the system demands your attention.
1
Install sensor nodes
Nodes go fully underground. Nothing above the soil surface after installation.
2
Data reaches your dashboard
Nodes transmit wirelessly every few hours. No manual readings, no maintenance.
3
Make confident irrigation calls
Check which fields are dry before you start your truck. That’s it.
Step 1
Nodes go in the ground.
That’s the last you’ll see of them.
That’s the last you’ll see of them.
Every AcreLink sensor node is fully buried — enclosure, antenna, wiring, and all. Nothing protrudes above the soil surface after installation.
-
Capacitive soil moisture sensors measure volumetric water content continuously at burial depth. The analog output is sampled by the node’s microcontroller before each transmission.
-
Polycarbonate enclosures house the electronics, antenna, and battery pack. Sealed against moisture and rated for long-term subsurface use.
-
Our battery chemistry targets 3+ years of field life at a transmission interval of every few hours. No battery swaps required during normal operation.
-
We handle the installation placing nodes at planned depths and distances, verify first transmission from each node, and confirm live data before leaving the site.
Installation photo
coming soon
Step 2
Data moves from the ground to your dashboard without you touching anything.
Each node wakes on a timer, takes a soil moisture reading, and transmits a small data packet via LoRa radio to the gateway. The gateway receives packets from all nodes in range, timestamps them, and pushes the data to the cloud over cellular. The whole cycle takes seconds.
-
LoRa 915 MHz is the radio protocol used for node-to-gateway transmission. It’s a long-range, low-power protocol purpose-built for IoT sensors that need to punch through soil, crop canopy, and distance.
-
Cellular gateway collects transmissions from all nodes in range and pushes timestamped readings to Firebase over LTE. Powered by a 12V LiFePO4 battery and solar panel — no grid power required.
-
No Wi-Fi. No per-sensor cellular cost. One gateway handles the entire node network. The cellular data cost is absorbed into the package — you don’t pay per transmission or per node.
-
Gateway range tested at 1/4 mile through soil in test deployments. Full canopy attenuation in summer conditions is an active area of measurement — gateway placement accounts for worst-case seasonal conditions.
Gateway installation photo
coming soon
Step 3
You open the dashboard.
You know which fields need water.
You know which fields need water.
The dashboard shows current soil moisture readings by zone, drying curves since last irrigation, and alert status for any zones that have dropped below your threshold. You make an irrigation call in under a minute. Then you close the tab and go back to running your farm.
-
Zone view shows every sensor group across your operation in a single screen. Each zone displays current moisture, last reading time, and status — dry, optimal, or wet.
-
Drying curves show how fast each zone loses moisture after an irrigation event. Over a season you build a clear picture of which fields hold water well and which ones drain fast — information that changes how you schedule your sets.
-
SMS and email alerts notify you when a zone drops below your set threshold. You find out before you’d notice it in the field, which is the point.
-
Dashboard access is included with your account. Your historical data and zone views are available while your account is active. An optional annual plan keeps hardware support and alerts active.
Dashboard
app.myacrelink.com
Alerts
SMS + email
Transmission interval
Every few hours
Access
Included with account
What happens after installation
The system is designed to run without intervention. Here’s what the first season typically looks like.
See it in an actual field.
Deployments are going live. Photos and data will be published as the 2026 season progresses.
