A Wireless Seismoacoustic Sensor Network for Monitoring Activity at Volcano Reventador, Ecuador
Abstract
We developed a wireless sensor network for monitoring seismoacoustic activity at Volcano Reventador, Ecuador. Wireless sensor networks are a new technology and our group is among the first to apply them to monitoring volcanoes. The small size, low power, and wireless communication capabilities can greatly simplify deployments of large sensor arrays. The network consisted of 16 wireless sensor nodes, each outfitted with an 8 MHz CPU (TI MSP430) and a 2.4 GHz IEEE 802.15.4 radio (Chipcon CC2420) with data rates up to 80 Kbps. Each node acquired acoustic and seismic data at 24-bit resolution, with a microphone and either a single-axis geophone or triaxial short-period seismometer. Each node is powered by two D-cell batteries with a lifetime of about 1 week, and measures 18 x 10 x 8 cm. Nodes were distributed radially from the vent over a 3 km aperture. Control and data messages are relayed via radio to a base station node, with inter-node distances of up to 420 m. The base station transmits data using a FreeWave radio modem, via a repeater, to a laptop located 4 km from the deployment site. Each node samples continuous sensor data and a simple event-detection algorithm is used to trigger data collection. When a sensor detects an event, it relays a short message to the base station via radio. If several nodes report an event within a short time interval, the last 60 seconds of data is downloaded from each node in turn. One of the sensor nodes is programmed to transmit continuous data; due to limited radio bandwidth, it is not possible to collect continuous data from all nodes in the array. A GPS receiver and time synchronization protocol is used to establish a global timebase across all sensor nodes.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2005
- Bibcode:
- 2005AGUFM.V21C0612W
- Keywords:
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- 7280 Volcano seismology (8419);
- 8419 Volcano monitoring (7280);
- 8494 Instruments and techniques