Abstract
An innovative wireless sensor network (WSN) based on Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) technology for 3D accurate superficial monitoring of ground deformations, as landslides and subsidence, is proposed. The system has been designed and developed as part of an European Life+ project, called Wi-GIM (Wireless Sensor Network for Ground Instability Monitoring). The details of the architecture, the localization via wireless technology and data processing protocols are described. The flexibility and accuracy achieved by the UWB two-way ranging technique is analysed and compared with the traditional systems, such as robotic total stations (RTSs) and Ground-based Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (GB-InSAR), highlighting the pros and cons of the UWB solution to detect the surface movements. An extensive field trial campaign allows the validation of the system and the analysis of its sensitivity to different factors (e.g., sensor nodes inter-visibility, effects of the temperature, etc.). The Wi-GIM system represents a promising solution for landslide monitoring and it can be adopted in combination with traditional systems or as an alternative in areas where the available resources are inadequate. The versatility, easy/fast deployment and cost-effectiveness, together with good accuracy, make the Wi-GIM system a possible solution for municipalities that cannot afford expensive/complex systems to monitor potential landslides in their territory.
Highlights
IntroductionContinuous and reliable field monitoring, possibly associated with early warning systems, are essential tools for hazard assessment and ground instability risk management
In order to validate the proposed system and highlight the benefits and drawback coming from the adoption of Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) technology for the landslides monitoring, the WI-GIM performance has been compared with the one obtained by the use of conventional instruments
A new prototypical ground instability monitoring instrument based on a low-cost UWB wireless sensor network (WSN) has been developed
Summary
Continuous and reliable field monitoring, possibly associated with early warning systems, are essential tools for hazard assessment and ground instability risk management. Different monitoring techniques are used to measure the relevant parameters, such as ground displacements, ground and surface water conditions and climatic parameters. A large number of different techniques for displacement monitoring has been made available to geoscientist in recent years [1,2]. Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) has been proposed to overcome the need of line of sight (LOS) condition and to provide high-precision 3D monitoring [11,12,13,14]. The development of low-cost GNSS equipment, opened new possibilities for the application of such technology to landslides monitoring [15,16,17]
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