Gage, S.H., S. Biswas, W. Joo, T. Wu, and F. Yu.
Presented at the All Scientist Poster Reception (2006-05-09 )
To implement a functional cyberinfrastructure we have examined a suite of ecological variables that capture important ecological phenomena. The five fundamental human senses are communication, feel, touch, taste smell and vision. Automated sensors are developed for several of these senses. They include: Communication (acoustic sensors); Feel (meteorological sensors); Taste and Smell (chemical sensors); and Vision (optical sensors). Humans and other organisms require these senses for survival.Given this array of potential senses and associated potential sensor technology, we choose to enable our sensor cyberinfrastructure design based on the communication sense. The ability to hear and to interpret sound is one of our basic senses. Acoustic signals produced by the environment are an untapped resource to assess the dynamics and health of the Earth?s ecosystems within which we live and extract resources. We argue that acoustic sensors are equally useful for monitor ecological communication and for sensing human activities leading to ecological change.A sensor system comprised of a sensor platform, an associated local server and a web services system to manage the platform has been developed at MSU (Gage and Biswas 2005). The sensor platform is based on the Crossbow Stargate processor. Our implementation of this Linux OS processor includes the incorporation of multiple sensor types including meteorological, image, and acoustics. The relatively low-cost sensor system enables deployment of multiple sensor platforms in the landscape. The heart of sensor system is a web-services interface residing on each platform with a wireless communications interface to each platform from a local server. The common web service is resident on each sensor platform and communication is enabled based on the ID of the platform. The server can handle multiple platforms within communication range, enhanced by a high-end wireless antenna.Back to Poster Titles
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