International Journal of Advanced Engineering Application

Energy-Efficient Clustering Protocol with Multi-Source Harvesting for Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks in Agricultural IoT Deployments

Author(s):Marco Rossi, Chiara Bianchi

Affiliation: Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

Page No: 6-9

Volume issue & Publishing Year: Volume 3, Issue 4, 02/04/2026

Journal: International Journal of Advanced Engineering Application (IJAEA)

ISSN NO: 3048-6807

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19453022

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Abstract:
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) deployed in precision agriculture applications face a fundamental tension between the energy constraints of battery-powered sensor nodes and the high-frequency, long-duration data collection requirements of modern crop monitoring — soil moisture, leaf wetness, microclimate temperature gradients, pest acoustic signatures — that drive actionable irrigation, pesticide, and fertigation decisions. The classical LEACH (Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy) and its variants address this tension through cluster-based topology management that balances the energy burden of data aggregation across nodes, but none of the existing protocols simultaneously addresses heterogeneous node energy profiles, multi-source energy harvesting integration, and adaptive modulation for link quality optimisation. This paper proposes a Hybrid Energy-Aware Clustering (HEAC) protocol that extends the LEACH-SEP framework with three innovations: energy-weighted cluster head election incorporating real-time harvesting power input from solar, RF, and thermoelectric sources; adaptive modulation switching between BPSK and 16-QAM based on the instantaneous SNR estimated from pilot symbols; and a predictive duty-cycling scheme that aligns sensor wake periods with predicted peak irradiance for solar-harvested nodes. Simulation across 100 sensor nodes in a 100m×100m field model over 2,000 rounds demonstrates 31.8% residual network energy after 1,000 rounds versus 18.4% for standard LEACH, a Packet Delivery Ratio of 95.4% versus 87.2%, and network lifetime extension of 68% measured as time to 50% node death. A 20-node testbed deployment in a tomato greenhouse in Coimbatore validates simulation outcomes within 8% deviation.

Keywords: WSN, IoT, energy harvesting, clustering protocol, LEACH, HEAC, precision agriculture, MPPT, PDR, network lifetime, BER, adaptive modulation

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