Abstract
This study presents an underground subsurface wireless sensor for drainage infrastructure water level monitoring. It operates from 800 to 2170 MHz to cover the required GSM850/900, GSM1800/1900 and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) bands. The system consists of a wideband antenna, transceiver, data acquisition unit and an ultrasonic sensor. The proposed antenna is a three-dimensional inverted double F antenna and has an envelope size of 90 × 63.5 × 32 mm 3 , which is acceptably small for a cramped subsurface passageway environment. The antenna design was developed using software simulation to optimise its key parameters of return loss and radiation pattern, these were evaluated both in free space and in the partially underground environment. The design developed was then realised in hardware and tested in a representative subsurface location: a utility manhole chamber. It was found that the location of the antenna in the chamber had a significant effect on its performance, but a location that was acceptable for operational purposes was found by experiment. The overall system, including a transceiver, was demonstrated to operate satisfactorily for utility monitoring purposes, including acceptable levels of path loss for communication with mobile communication base stations.
Highlights
Deterioration of the UK's ageing drainage infrastructure due to climate change, population rise and changing patterns of demand, has resulted the associated increase in the proportion of budgets spent on maintenance present remarkable challenges to society [1]
This paper presents the design, development and implementation concepts of a subsurface wireless water level monitoring system which is installed underneath a manhole cover
To examine the received signal strength indication (RSSI) of the proposed antenna when below ground level, the antenna was installed in a real manhole at three depths (5 cm, 15 cm and 25 cm), over around 3 weeks for each depth
Summary
Deterioration of the UK's ageing drainage infrastructure due to climate change, population rise and changing patterns of demand, has resulted the associated increase in the proportion of budgets spent on maintenance present remarkable challenges to society [1]. Exfiltration is most likely to occur following prolonged periods of dry weather, whereas infiltration is associated with high groundwater levels The significance of these extraneous flows is that they can create voids or zones of low soil density adjacent to the pipe that undermine the ability of the surrounding soil to support its weight, thereby enabling progressive deformation of an already deteriorating sewer. The convergence of the Internet, telecommunications, and novel information technologies with viable techniques for miniaturization offers immense opportunities for the development and application of sensor systems to meet these unabated needs This is evident in the urban environment where a range of communication technologies such as GPRS, WiFi and emerging wireless broadband standards (such as 5G) are available. It acquires data from a sensor to monitor the water level: this is linked to a data collector and transceiver in an underground WSN system to communicate with the commercial mobile networks
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