<![CDATA[Limited cellular communication infrastructure, complex topography, and dense vegetation in rural areas pose major challenges to the implementation of smart agriculture. This study aims to analyze the performance and stability of a 433 MHz LoRa wireless communication network under Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) conditions and evaluate the accuracy of temperature and soil moisture sensors in an automatic irrigation prototype. We conducted field tests in Bentenu Hamlet, Banyu Urip Village, West Lombok Regency, at distances of 100 m, 300 m, and 500 m under two propagation scenarios: dense-vegetation NLOS and hilly-terrain NLOS. The results showed that the dense-vegetation path at 100 m achieved excellent signal quality, with an average Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) of −39.67 dBm and a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) of +12.75 dB. At the maximum distance of 500 m, signal quality degraded to −101.50 dBm RSSI and −0.62 dB SNR under dense-vegetation conditions, classified as fair, and to −105.30 dBm RSSI and −8.63 dB SNR under hilly-terrain conditions, classified as poor. Despite the declining signal quality and negative SNR, the recorded packet loss remained at 0.00% across all tested distances and propagation conditions. Regarding sensor accuracy, the capacitive soil moisture sensor V1.2 achieved a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 1.24% volumetric water content (VWC), corresponding to a reported accuracy of 98.76%. The DHT11 air temperature sensor achieved an MAE of 0.38 °C, with a reported accuracy of 99.62%, compared with the standard reference instrument. These findings demonstrate the potential of 433 MHz LoRa technology for supporting automatic irrigation in rural agricultural areas with challenging terrain.]]>
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