2D Phase-Based RFID Localization for On-Site Landslide Monitoring

Abstract

Passive radio-frequency identification (RFID) was recently used to monitor landslide displacement at a high spatio-temporal resolution but only measured 1D displacement. This study demonstrates the tracking of 2D displacements, using an array of antennas connected to an RFID interrogator. Ten tags were deployed on a landslide for 12 months and 2D relative localization was performed using a phase-of-arrival approach. A period of landslide activity was monitored through RFID and displacements were confirmed by reference measurements. The tags showed displacements of up to 1.2 m over the monitored period. The centimeter-scale accuracy of the technique was confirmed experimentally and theoretically for horizontal localization by developing a measurement model that included antenna and tag positions, as well as multipath interference. This study confirms that 2D landslide displacement tracking with RFID is feasible at relatively low instrumental and maintenance cost.

RFID Landslide Monitoring: Long-Term Outdoor Signal Processing and Phase Unwrapping

“…• The Harmalière landslide (Sinard, France) is located near Grenoble in the western Pre-Alps, and is a slow moving landslide currently active and investigated by many research projects [38]. The RFID setup, installed in 2020 [22], consists of 4 reader antennas and 32 tags spread in a 30m by 30m investigated zone. Tacheometry reference measurements are frequently performed.…”

“…experiments [13]- [21]. In real-life scenarios such as retail environments [2] or outdoor landslide monitoring [1], [22], the acquired data is inevitably noisier and intermittent. At the same time, RFID generally yields abundant and redundant data that can enhance the data from each tag [23], [24].…”

“…With the combined perspectives of long-term RFID measurements and of data redundancy exploitation, RFID landslide monitoring experiments represent unique candidates for providing long-term, real-life noisy and redundant signals. This method has already proven its centimeter-scale accuracy through multiple works [12], [22], [25], [26]. The feedback offered by the past years of monitoring is of great use for understanding real-application scenarios, especially concerning the process of phase unwrapping.…”

A Review of Radio Frequency Based Localisation for Aerial and Ground Robots with 5G Future Perspectives

“…As discussed earlier, the localisation accuracy in the z-direction is always less than in x-y. Notably, the multi-path effect and the small offset of anchors in the z-direction yield poor vertical accuracy, relying on conventional methods [ 125 ]. MIMO technology and wide-band mmWave system of 5G provide promising solutions to improve the 3D positioning, such as taking full advantage of CFR in all frequencies or analysing antenna radiation pattern [ 126 ].…”

Monitoring snowpack SWE and temperature using RFID tags as wireless sensors

“…Recently, tags were augmented with the capabilty to sense their environment (reviewed by Costa et al, 2021), using either a sensor connected to the tag (Hamrita and Hoffacker, 2005), the tag antenna as a sensor (Bhattacharyya et al, 2009), or the properties of the wave propagation for localization or contactless sensing (Nikitin et al, 2010;Liu et al, 2012). In earth science, RFID tags have been increasingly used to monitor various surface processes (reviewed by Le Breton et al 2021b), such as coarse sediment transportation in rivers (Nichols, 2004;Lamarre et al, 2005), temperature fluctuations of the soil (Luvisi et al, 2016;Deng et al, 2020), soil moisture (Pichorim et al, 2018;Wang et al, 2020), landslide displacement (Le Charléty et al, 2022aCharléty et al, , 2022b and rock displacement (Le Breton et al, 2021a). The few RFID studies related to snow or frost show that tags are readable below snow under certain conditions (Le and should not suffer from long-term deterioration due to cyclic freezing/thawing (Gutierrez et al, 2013).…”