For the Second Year, the ALTA® Soil Moisture Sensor is Honored as One of the World's Most Innovative Technologies in the Global AgTech Industry

SALT LAKE CITY—August 21, 2025—Monnit, a leader in Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, recently won the 2025 AgTech Breakthrough Water Monitoring Solution of the Year Award for its ALTA® Soil Moisture Sensor, ALTA XL® Wireless IoT Gateway, and iMonnit™ Cloud Monitoring App. 

The annual AgTech Breakthrough Awards program recognizes innovation and excellence in agricultural and food technology companies, products, and services around the globe. Monnit won the award because its ALTA Soil Moisture Sensor measures the technically advanced and valuable condition of soil water tension, which helps you optimize precision irrigation scheduling and conserve water in smart agriculture operations.

"We want to alleviate the problems preventing water conservation and irrigation best practices worldwide," said Monnit Founder and CEO Brad Walters. "The spotlight on Monnit for winning the AgTech Breakthrough Water Monitoring Solution of the Year Award is invaluable recognition of our commitment to providing transformative and sustainable smart agriculture solutions."

The Monnit Wireless Water Monitoring Solution

The core of the Monnit Wireless Water Monitoring Solution is the ALTA Soil Moisture Sensor, which sends data to your mobile device and PC. Understand how much, when, and where to water crops. You will receive instant text, email, push notification, or voice call alerts if water or moisture levels and temperatures deviate from preset parameters. The solution also includes cellular connectivity and real-time oversight from the ALTA XL IoT Gateway and iMonnit Monitoring App.

Measure soil water tension in units of pressure (0 to 240 centibar (cb) or kilopascal (kPa)) and temperature (-40°C to 125°C/-40°F to 257°F) using an innovative resistive granular matrix element and a thermistor-based temperature element. There is a science to measuring soil water tension; both sensor elements provide the data you need to make informed decisions about watering.

The Power of Soil Water Tension

Monitor the advanced yet valuable soil water potential. This sensor measures matric water potential, or soil water tension, which is the best indicator of water availability. Unlike other sensors, the moisture element functions like a root, measuring water tension in its hydrophilic fabric-covered matrix material instead of the surrounding soil.

Sensors that solely measure soil water volume have limitations because they can't tell you how water moves. As an electrical resistance sensor, it monitors the energy state of water, which explains water movement, including the energy that a plant exerts to draw available water from the soil.

The Impact of Soil Water Potential and Temperature

When you measure water potential and temperature together, you can more accurately determine if your crops are healthy or stressed. By combining these elements, the ALTA Soil Moisture Sensor can help increase yield and mitigate water stress and nutrient leaching. Additionally, you can use the temperature element's reading for soil moisture temperature compensation, eliminating the need for different water readings if the temperature changes.

A Proven IoT Platform

The sensor operates on Monnit's wireless IoT platform, which uses a proprietary combination of hardware and software to collect and transmit data efficiently and securely. Featuring a long-range, multi-frequency radio and a flexible microcontroller, it can be rapidly deployed across various AgTech applications.

Additional key features of the Soil Moisture Sensor:

• Durable in various soils and both hot and freezing temperatures.
  • Corrosion-resistant stainless steel
  • Internally compensated for salinity levels
• Easier to install and use than traditional tensiometers.
• Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) provides greater tolerance to signal interference.
  • Impairment immunity extends up to 2,000 feet from physical obstructions, external wireless radio frequencies, and electromagnetic interference (EMI).
  • One-mile wireless range at ground level, without obstructions.
• Encrypt-RF® Security (Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange + AES-128 Cipher Blocker Chaining (CBC) for sensor data messages).
• Logs up to 4,000 readings if the gateway connection is lost.

Measure Up to Conservation Concerns

Overwatering and underwatering are significant concerns when balancing water conservation with healthy crops. Water monitoring using the ALTA Soil Moisture Sensor can help quench water-saving worries and optimize precision water monitoring in smart agriculture operations.

By connecting soil water to the IoT, the sensor triggers water's effective, efficient use. It can help stimulate the long-term economic and environmental sustainability of growing operations.

About Monnit Corporation

The origin story of the Internet of Things (IoT) begins with Monnit. Before our inception in 2010, we were already at the forefront of embedding technology into machines and devices to make them talk, delivering valuable data to business leaders. Monnit Remote Monitoring Solutions for nearly any industry use case have delivered 63+ billion data points in more than 85 countries for 72k+ customers. Monnit's 80+ IoT sensors remotely monitor many conditions like temperature, light, humidity, water, vibration, pressure, and more via wireless, Power of Ethernet, and cellular connectivity. You can analyze data using iMonnit cloud software and get alerts via email, text, push notification, or call when our sensors detect a change you need to know.

About AgTech Breakthrough

Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the AgTech Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence in agricultural & food technologies, services, companies, and products around the world. The AgTech Breakthrough Awards program provides a forum for public recognition around the achievements of AgTech companies and solutions in categories including farm management, indoor farming, IoT and robotics, FoodTech, analytics, and more. For more information, visit AgTechBreakthrough.com.

Tech Breakthrough LLC does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our recognition programs, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with award designations. Tech Breakthrough LLC recognition consists of the opinions of the Tech Breakthrough LLC organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Tech Breakthrough LLC disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this recognition program, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.