New Opportunities in Ecological Sensing Using Wireless Sensor Networks

• Published in: Frontiers in ecology and the environment 2006-10, Vol.4 (8), p.402-407
• Main Authors: Collins, Scott L., Lu s M. A. Bettencourt, Hagberg, Aric, Brown, Renee F., Moore, Douglas I., Bonito, Greg, Delin, Kevin A., Jackson, Shannon P., Johnson, David W., Burleigh, Scott C., Woodrow, Richard R., McAuley, J. Michael
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Data processing; Data quality; Environmental assessment; Human ecology; Long term ecological research; Research Communications; Sensors; Shrubs; Soil ecology; Soil resources; Statistics
• ISSN: 1540-9295; 1540-9309
• DOI: 10.1890/1540-9295(2006)4[402:NOIESU]2.0.CO;2

Measuring environmental variables at appropriate temporal and spatial scales remains an important challenge in ecological research. New developments in wireless sensors and sensor networks will free ecologists from a wired world and revolutionize our ability to study ecological systems at relevant scales. In addition, sensor networks can analyze and manipulate the data they collect, thereby moving data processing from the end user to the sensor network itself. Such embedded processing will allow sensor networks to perform data analysis procedures, identify outlier data, alter sampling regimes, and ultimately control experimental infrastructure. We illustrate this capability using a wireless sensor network, the Sensor Web, in a study of microclimate variation under shrubs in the Chihuahuan Desert. Using Sensor Web data, we propose simple analytical protocols for assessing data quality "on-the-fly" that can be programmed into sensor networks. The ecological community can influence the evolution of environmental sensor networks by working across disciplines to infuse new ideas into sensor network development.