Sensor Webs in the Wild

In October 2001, a new era in wireless sensor systems began when the NASA/JPL Sensor Web deployed at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in Southern California went online. For the first time, it was possible for a person with nothing more than a computer, an Internet connection, and a standard browser to watch streaming, real-time data generated by an ad hoc wireless networked system permanently embedded in an outdoor environment. Unlike other wireless sensor networks, the central purpose of a Sensor Web system is to extract knowledge from the data it collects and use this information to intelligently react and adapt to its surroundings. It acts as a single, distributed instrument that links a remote end-user's cognizance with the observed environment. The Sensor Web's capabilities are useful in a diverse set of outdoor applications ranging from precision agriculture to perimeter security to effluent tracking. Wireless networked systems, and Sensor Webs in particular, are only just beginning to change the ways in which we can sense, monitor, and control large spatial areas. Here, we both explore the possibilities that Sensor Webs bring to Earth science and examine several recent deployments (real-time data streams from these sites are available at http://sensorwebs.jpl.nasa.gov/).