Abstract
The use of existing measurements from a commercial wireless communication system as virtual sensors for environmental monitoring has recently gained increasing attention. In particular, measurements of the signal level of commercial microwave links (CMLs) used in the backhaul communication network of cellular systems are considered as opportunistic sensors for precipitation monitoring. Research results have demonstrated the feasibility of the suggested technique for the estimating and mapping of rain, as well as for monitoring other-than-rain phenomena. However, further advancement toward implementation and commercial use are heavily dependent on multidisciplinary collaborations: Communication and network engineers are needed to enable access to the existing measurements; signal processing experts can utilize the different data for improving the accuracy and the tempo-spatial resolution of the estimates; atmospheric scientists are responsible for the physical modeling; hydrologists, meteorologists, and others can contribute to the end uses; economists can indicate the potential benefits; etc. In this paper I will review state-of-the-art results and the open challenges, demonstrating the benefit to the public good from utilizing the opportunistic-sensing approach. I will also analyze the various obstacles on the way there.
Highlights
The relation between the rain intensity R and the attenuation of a microwave wireless signal A traveling in the atmosphere is relatively simple: A = aRb l (1)where A is in dB, l is the path length of the link and a, b are constants, depending on the frequency and the polarization of the signal, as well as on the drop size distribution (DSD) of the rain, which is considered as typical to an area
Proving the feasibility of commercial microwave links (CMLs) technology and having an active scientific community are most important for the sustainability and for the future advancement of this emerging technology
The changes in the communication markets push cellular companies to look for new business, so they are more open to explore the potential of creating revenues from CML technology
Summary
Where A is in dB, l is the path length (in km) of the link and a, b are constants, depending on the frequency and the polarization of the signal, as well as on the drop size distribution (DSD) of the rain, which is considered as typical to an area. Equation (1), which become linear (b = 1) for a certain choice of signal parameters, first suggested in Reference [3] This raised the idea to use microwave links (MLs) for rainfall measurements in the early 90s [4,5,6], and it was experimentally tested in a multinational European project [7]. While the relation (1) still forms the basis of Environments 2018, 5, 73; doi:10.3390/environments5070073 www.mdpi.com/journal/environments
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