Abstract
Omnidirectional antennas are often used for radio frequency (RF) communication in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Outside noise, electromagnetic interference (EMI), overloaded network traffic, large obstacles (vegetation and buildings), terrain and atmospheric composition, along with climate patterns can degrade signal quality in the form of data packet loss or reduced RF communication range. This paper explores the RF range reduction properties of a particular WSN designed to operate in agricultural crop fields to collect aggregate data composed of subsurface soil moisture and soil temperature. Our study, using simulation, anechoic and field measurements shows that the effect of antenna placement close to the ground (within 10 cm) signi?cantly changes the omnidirectional transmission pattern. We then develop and propose a prediction method that is more precise than current practices of using the Friis and Fresnel equations. Our prediction method takes into account environmental properties for RF communication range based on the height of nodes and gateways.
Highlights
Wireless sensor networks (WSN) provide a means to monitor an environment with a high spatial and temporal granularity
This paper explores the radio frequency (RF) range reduction properties of a particular WSN designed to operate in agricultural crop fields to collect aggregate data composed of subsurface soil moisture and soil temperature
Experimental results agreed with the hypothesis that antenna proximity to the ground plays a significant role in limiting the RF range
Summary
Wireless sensor networks (WSN) provide a means to monitor an environment with a high spatial and temporal granularity. They generally consist of a collection of sensors used to monitor one or more specific variables over a region of interest [1]. WSNs are used for a variety of applications such as security monitoring, traffic control, wildlife tracking, or factory monitoring. They can be useful in dangerous environments unfit for human presence, such as an enemy base camp or a toxic field of radioactive material. RF implementation offers the potential of hundreds to thousands of sensor nodes to be implemented in the same network
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