CSIRO’s FLECK™ wireless sensor network platform is set to revolutionise environmental monitoring and biodiversity restoration.
Every five minutes since May 2008, a wireless network of sensors has been measuring temperature, humidity, leaf wetness and wind speed at Mt Springbrook – part of a World Heritage rainforest precinct in south-east Queensland, Australia.
Mt Springbrook includes several hundred hectares of globally significant forests that were cleared last century. Efforts are now underway to rehabilitate the rainforest through a project coordinated by the Australian Rainforest Conservation Society.
CSIRO’s wireless sensor network is part of a major initiative to develop the capability to provide reliable, long-term monitoring of rainforest ecosystems.
Current activities
Ten solar powered, microclimate nodes are streaming data over the network back to base.
By 2011 we will have expanded the network to 200 nodes with extra sensors measuring biodiversity indicators such as bird and frog calls and the amount of light available for plants.
Due to the limited sunlight under the rainforest canopy, the nodes use sophisticated power management techniques to make sure they stay on-line, adaptively reducing their workload to minimise how much power they use.
We are continually refining these techniques as more sensors are added to the nodes, including the possibility of installing a small camera.
We are also investigating adaptive sample rates and in-network statistics.
Technical details
The hardware is based on the CSIRO-developed FLECK™ wireless sensor
platform, which was specifically designed for long-term, outdoor use.
The FLECK™ platform has features such as:
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radio communication over long distances
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highly efficient solar recharging
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ability to handle a large number and wide range of sensors simultaneously.
Outcomes
CSIRO’s wireless sensor network technology is set to revolutionise environmental monitoring and biodiversity restoration.
Our small-scale study has demonstrated that is possible to stream real-time data back from open and covered rainforest using a low bandwidth wireless sensor network.
No other technology holds the same potential as FLECK™ for real-time monitoring of complex, interlinked variables (climate, soils, water, terrain, plants and animals) involved in ecological restoration.
Partners
This project is a collaboration between CSIRO and the:
Read more about Wireless sensor networks: a new instrument for observing our world.
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