Site Visit 2008 PERMASENSE Geo-science and engineering functioning together Stephan Gruber, Jan Beutel, Andreas Hasler, Igor Talzi, Christian Plessl, Mustafa Yuecel, Roman Lim, Christian Tschudin, Lothar Thiele, Karl Aberer

Site Visit 2008 Geo-science motivation to use WSNs Climate rapidly affects the high-mountain hazard regime. Anticipation and minimization of adverse effects requires: Understanding mechanisms of thaw and cryogenic rock movement Provision of transient spatial data fields of relevant variables High lateral variability as well as difficult access and environmental conditions constrain measurements: Weight and size of equipment Time consumption (installation, maintenance, data gathering) Completeness of data recovery Robustness (temperature, lightning, mechanical wear) Synchronization Sacrificial sensors

Site Visit 2008 Aims and vision With PERMASENSE, we aim to:  provide long-term high-quality sensing in harsh environments  facilitate near-complete data recovery and near real-time delivery  obtain better quality data, more effectively  obtain measurements that have previously been impossible  provide relevant information for research or decision making Reliability, delivery of information in near real-time, and integration of diverse sensors are ingredients for the next generation of early-warning systems.

Site Visit 2008 Project evolution Initiated by UniZH and UniBasel in 2006 (Tschudin, Gruber)  Co-funded by FOEN in order to: (a) investigate permafrost thaw and hazards, and to (b) pioneer WSNs for environmental monitoring and early-warning.  Developed 1 st generation system from scratch  Prototype deployment on Jungfraujoch site in 09/2006 ETH Zurich joins in 2007 (Beutel, Thiele)  Development of custom DAQ hardware  System testing on DSN testbed  Deployment on Matterhorn site in 09/2007 (different sensors and logging)  Joint effort to develop 2 nd generation system  Deployment of networking system in 07/2008 EPFL joins in 2008 (Aberer)  Data backend integration

Site Visit 2008 Deployment 2006: Jungfraujoch, 3500m Focus:Heat transfer Status:Ready for upgrade Data:Exploratory data gathering in winter 06/07

Site Visit 2008 Deployment 2007: Matterhorn, 3400m Focus:Cryogenic rock movement Status:Productive since July 08 (logging since Oct. 08)

Site Visit 2008 Architecture

Site Visit 2008 Sensor nodes Shockfish TinyNode Protective shoe, simple installation Waterproof housing and connectors Sensor Interface Board 3-year lifetime with single battery (~300  A average power budget)

Site Visit 2008 Sensor interface board (SIB) Development started in 2007 Diverse interfaces, low power New: 1 GB memory (redundancy and validation) Provides very stable measurements

Site Visit 2008 Sensors Sensor rods (profiles of temperature and electric conductivity) Thermistor chains Crack meters Water pressure Ice stress Self potential

Site Visit 2008 Base station Powerful embedded Linux 4 GB storage, all data duplicated Solar power Backup modem

Site Visit 2008 Software TinyOS-based, fully customized Integration of Dozer (MICS, IPSN_07) DAQ routine, profited from SNPK (Sensor Network Platform Kit, MICS) Integration of GSN data backend (Global Sensor Network, MICS, VLDB_06) Ongoing algorithmic research: in-memory downsampling (storage in limited flash memory), intermittent connectivity aspects, code optimization

Site Visit 2008 Testing facilities Networking performance (Deployment-Support Network, MICS, EWSN_07) Power profiling Temperature and humidity cycling Sensor calibration Rooftop system break-in

Site Visit 2008 Data and geo-science Geo-science starts now Excellent measurement stability Emerging challenge: turning data into relevant information (aggregation, merging distributed sensing and modeling)

Site Visit 2008 Outlook Mountains are demonstrator, real relevance much greater Large potential for hazard surveillance and warning systems Solid basis for continued two axis (geo/eng.) funding and integration

Site Visit 2008 Summary of main achievements Live system since July 2008 Experienced and motivated multi-disciplinary team Integration and refinement of existing technology MICS: SNPK, DSN testbed, Dozer & GSN Quick adaptation of resources to challenges flexible MICS financing Sound strategic basis and vision for continuation

Site Visit 2008 Thank you Please look at our live demo outside