Motes in the Jungle: Lessons Learned from a Short-Term WSN Deployment in the Ecuador Cloud Forest

Abstract

Abstract. We study the characteristics of the communication links of a wireless sensor network in a tropical cloud forest in Ecuador, in the context of a wildlife monitoring application. Thick vegetation and high humidity are in principle a challenge for the IEEE 802.15.4 radio we employed. We performed experiments with stationary-only nodes as well as in combination with mobile ones. Due to logistics, all the experiments were performed in isolation by the biologists on our team. In addition to discussing the characteristics of links in this previously unstudied environment, we also discuss the lessons we learned from operating under peculiar constraints in a peculiar deployment scenario.

How Environmental Factors Impact Outdoor Wireless Sensor Networks: A Case Study

“…We used TMote Sky nodes, equipped with the ChipCon 2420 radio chip compliant with IEEE 802.15.4, and on-board omnidirectional antenna. These are popular choices, also allowing us to leverage experience from our previous uses of TRIDENT (e.g., [7]). Each node was placed in an IP65 water-proof box with a transparent cover, containing the two D-size batteries powering the node.…”

“…Node placement. The topology of our WSN deployment, shown in Figure 1, consists of 8 nodes arranged in a cross, similar to [7]. This represents a good trade-off between deployment effort and coverage of different link distances, in our case ranging from 7 m to 64 m. In OPEN, nodes were attached to 3-meter tall wooden poles, planted vertically in the ground.…”

“…The latter would be highly impractical in our case, due to the relatively long duration of tests and the environmental conditions (e.g., snow). The tool is easy to use; it has already been used in-field by scientists without technical knowledge about WSNs [7]. TRIDENT supports the entire process, from the design of the field tests to the gathering and sharing of the results, along with support for data visualization and analysis.…”

“…Further, the need to analyze in detail these variations has led to experimental setups constituted mostly by highly controlled lab settings. Nevertheless, the few exceptions in the literature [5], [7], [15] show that real-world environments may yield quite different link properties. We review the related work in Section II.…”

Understanding Link Dynamics in Wireless Sensor Networks with Dynamically Steerable Directional Antennas

“…Others have investigated the characteristics of low power wireless links in special environments. Ceriotti et al have studied wireless links in a jungle [23], although mostly with short-term experiments. Long-term studies of the behaviour of lowpower wireless links are instead found in the literature for peculiar settings such as road tunnels [24], along with a comparison against more traditional settings.…”