Smart Weather Station to Help Crop Growers
Scientists at the Buryat Research Institute of Agriculture have launched a digital platform for monitoring soil and air conditions.
Before fieldwork begins, crop growers need accurate information about agrometeorological conditions in their fields to understand what is happening on the ground in real time. For example, tillage and planting are best carried out when the soil reaches a state of “physical ripeness” – the optimal temperature and moisture conditions for high-quality machine operations. Farmers also need a one-week forecast based on long-term observations of the area. With this information, agronomists can make more effective management decisions that reduce risks, increase yields and optimize costs.
Continuous Agrometeorological Data Collection
The Buryat Research Institute of Agriculture, a branch of the Siberian Federal Research Center of Agrobiotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, has put the automated SAM-N (Agrometeorological Monitoring System) into operation. The autonomous system continuously collects real-time data on soil conditions and meteorological parameters.
“The new weather station has been installed in the village of Ivolginsk, directly on our experimental fields in a highly arid area. The system continuously records soil-profile parameters, including moisture down to a depth of 300 cm and temperature down to 5 m. The system also tracks air temperature and humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, precipitation and solar radiation levels,” said Alexander Ulanov, director of the Buryat Research Institute of Agriculture.
Continuous soil-moisture monitoring is essential for AI-based modeling of water regimes, risk assessment and planning of agricultural operations. This is the third such station in Siberia; similar systems have already been installed in Tunkinsky National Park and in Tulun, Irkutsk Region. The digital weather station will make it possible to predict droughts in advance, addressing one of the growing challenges facing the Republic of Buryatia. In 2025, a regional state of emergency was declared in 10 districts because of drought conditions.
Digital Soil Condition Model
Previously, agrometeorological measurements were taken manually and only according to a set schedule. The automated station can collect data continuously, providing highly accurate information both for decisions about ongoing fieldwork and for analyzing changes in the soil profile. The new digital weather stations will also significantly simplify the process for Russian farmers of documenting insured events involving crop losses caused by hazardous natural phenomena.
“In addition to helping adjust ongoing agricultural operations, this gives farmers access to more accurate meteorological data and allows them to document extreme weather events when seeking insurance payouts. The National Union of Agricultural Insurers says that weather stations are important not only for agriculture but also for the agricultural insurance system, because data from these stations are used to confirm insured events,” said Dmitry Khomyakov, a professor in the Department of General Agriculture and Agroecology at the Faculty of Soil Science of Lomonosov Moscow State University.
In July 2026, Russia launched an experiment to verify data collected from both government and private weather stations. “Once the testing stage is complete, crop growers will be able to document insured crop losses caused by climate anomalies using documents from Roshydromet, even when a government weather station is located a considerable distance from the affected field. Data from private stations will be used to record the weather conditions,” said Korney Bizhdov, president of the National Union of Agricultural Insurers.
Digital Transformation of Agriculture
The work by scientists in Buryatia marks an important step in the technological modernization of Russia’s agricultural sector and the expansion of smart farming. It advances digital methods for monitoring and analyzing natural phenomena, a capability that is becoming increasingly important as global climate change creates greater uncertainty for agriculture.
The rollout of such technologies is already underway. Since 2021, the Altai Krai has been developing a network of digital weather stations that measure soil and air temperatures, record precipitation and assess plant conditions. In 2023, scientists at North-Caucasus Federal University developed a technology for remotely monitoring soil moisture and other soil characteristics using a radar system carried by two unmanned aerial vehicles.
These platforms can form a unified digital system for weather monitoring and meteorological data analysis. Once integrated into the Unified Digital Platform for the Agro-Industrial and Fisheries Complexes, which will connect all federal government information systems, the data will become available to agricultural enterprises nationwide. This could significantly improve the efficiency of Russian crop production. According to Elena Troshina, director of the Department of Digitalization and Technological Development at Russia’s Ministry of Agriculture, precision farming systems increase grain yields by 17% while reducing fertilizer use by 15%.
