OPE3 is an interdisciplinary research project started in 1998 addressing various major environmental and economic issues facing U.S. agriculture today. Located in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, USA the OPE3 sites primary focus are the environmental aspects of precision farming. The implementation of this project entailed four adjacent watersheds with similar surface and subsurface soil and water flow characteristics to be carved from a 25 ha study area.

Sentek Sensor Technologies has been one of the major sensing calabarators since the projects inception working closely with the OPE3 project from 1998, focusing upon the soil moisture monitoring component of this major environmental endeavour. The major challenge for researchers at the site was to accurately quantify and predict chemical transport at the watershed scale as well as an inability to determine soil water dynamics. Through the use of the Sentek Sensor technology, researchers can now identify the spatial location and timing of surface and subsurface chemical losses as they have an accurate knowledge of soil water dynamics.

Sentek’s Irrigation and Hydrology Manager Peter Buss installed 48 EnviroSCAN^® soil moisture probes with a total of 256 sensors throughout the OPE3 site, that generate over 13 million measurements annually. These millions of data points provide the backbone for moisture monitoring research.

Peter Buss stated, "the soil moisture observations are collected at several different scales with over 36,000 measurements each day giving researchers a "motion picture" view of surface and subsurface soil water dynamics over the entire site."

Sentek’s data provide the OPE3 researchers with a better understanding in water and chemical transport to neighboring ecosystems as well as in determining factors that may influence crop growth and yield.

The primary objectives of OPE3 research project are to:

• determine watershed-scale fluxes of agricultural chemicals from three crop production systems
• determine the behavior and environmental impact of chemicals on a wooded riparian wetland and a first-order stream
• develop remotely sensed data products and analytical techniques for measuring and managing the spatial variability of crops and soils
• determine long-term economic and environmental impacts of these crop production systems and evaluate their tradeoffs using integrated economic and biophysical simulation models

Sentek Sensor Technologies has played a fundamental role in the understanding of watershed-scale hydrologic processes governing chemical transport through soil to neighboring ecosystems. This data collected via the EnviroSCAN^® soil moisture probes has now allowed researchers to formulate strategies for mitigating chemical contamination.

Peter Buss stated, "this project is striving to improve the sustainability of the earth and Sentek are proud to play such a key role in this endeavour."

Sentek’s products are currently being used in agricultural, horticulture, viticulture, wastewater, research, mining and environmental industries around the world. Sales are driven through a carefully selected network of qualified and licensed distributors across five continents. The company currently supports agents with several hundred sales locations around the world. Sentek exports the majority of its water management products to growing markets in the US, UK, Europe, Asia and South America.

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