R. C. Bogle

Deployments of wide and local area wireless sensor networks for environmental studies

Remote sensing at high temporal resolutions, via satellite or airborne imaging systems, is often technically difficult and prohibitively expensive. This frequently results in the need for low cost, high availability field-based instrumentation and data collection systems by environmental scientists and land managers. The USGS Southwest Geographic Science Team in Flagstaff, Arizona has designed and developed several field-based systems to address this need. Utilizing low-cost embedded Linux-based computers, off-the-shelf commercial data loggers, cellular modems, and radio frequency systems, these systems have allowed the placement of in-situ digital cameras and environmental/weather monitoring stations in remote locations such as the Mojave Desert and Hawaiian Islands. These systems are being used in studies as diverse as dust storm genesis and coral reef health, and have potential across a wide range of landscape and climate change applications. We are not only able to update and maintain the stations remotely, reducing costs in physical maintenance and data collection, but also monitor landscapes in near real-time, retrieving high-density data such as images) on demand or on regular automated schedules. This poster describes the various hardware configurations, software, and topologies used, as well as initial analyses on configuration efficacies.