1. PermaSense III Sensor Networks in Extreme Environments Jan Beutel, Stephan Gruber, Christian Tschudin, Lothar Thiele

2. Objectives Establishing a highly reliable and dependable wireless infrastructure for sensor and actuator networks in extreme environmental conditions –Terrain movement, evolution of slope stability –Long periods of unsupervised operation –Limited power sources –Maximizing data yield Combining sensor and actuator functionality Paving the road for future applications in early warning

3. New horizons Multitude of (new) sensors –Precision movement detection –Resistivity tomography –Micro-seismic events –High resolution imaging Large variety of time scales –Real-time actuation and sensing for fast processes –Long term for slow processes Remote locations –No possibility of physical repair/update –No infrastructure –Sensor node in a pocket

4. Understanding when and why catastrophes happen Eiger east-face rockfall 2006, images courtesy of Arte Television

5. Tomorrow’s challenge – improving today’s practice Seismic/resistivity tomography Coordinated actuation and sensing

6. Current project status and state-of-the-art PermaSense in MICS phase 2 –2 operational field sites since 07/2008 –18 + 14 nodes, 150 uA power consumption, 2 min sampling rate –Constant rate, simple sensors, limited context Sensor network research –Post “gold-rush” era The field is consolidating Foundations have been made Early (mis)conceptions have been understood and are being revised –Sustainability and real technology transfer –Many open (hard) problems Permafrost monitoring and modeling –Manual interaction in field studies, fragile measurement systems –Quality data (to connect field/lab/simulation) missing for harsh conditions

7. Comments from the proposal review The proposal could be stronger with meaningful involvement of more theorists to pursue the research questions that arise in deployments. PracticeTheory Grow the team? Diversify? Shift focus?

8. System design – architecture –Design of extremely reliable systems by constructive/compositional methods Resource allocation and arbitration –Locality of processing, storage –Communication requirements Efficient signal processing algorithms –Local processing to filter out interesting events –Remote triggering of sensors and actuators Natural processes and hazards –New insight through better data and models –Automated analysis and alerting Theory Collaborators Scientific challenges – (MICS) theory collaborations K. Römer, F. Mattern (ETHZ) Observability by Design M. Vetterli (EPFL) A. Geiger (ETHZ) R. Rigon (Trento), J. Murton (Sussex), M. Font (Caen) [IPSN/SPOTS 2009]

9. Technology: Conformance testing using TA’s [FORMATS 2009]

10. Technology: Conformance testing using TA’s System in operation Expected behavior Power trace Model of observed behavior Model of expected behavior UPAAL Joint work with “Deployment of Sensor Networks” [FORMATS 2009]

11. Technology: Root cause failure analysis Nodes Reset System Outages # Lost Packets Network Disconnect Joint work with “Deployment of Sensor Networks” [SENSYS 2009]

12. Geoscience: Fast localized thaw by advection Near-surface temperatures / conductive model Combination with time-lapse resistivity tomography

13. Geoscience: Cryogenic rock movement/weathering Dilatation data with cleared thermal signal Temperature [°C] Distance [mm] Temperature [°C] Distance [mm] Resistance [MOhm] Temperature [°C] Moisture saturation and freezing dynamics captured by sensor rod [NICOP2008]

14. PermaSense collaborations

15. DEMONSTRATION

16. A look around the deployment region Hörnli Ridge 3500 m asl

17. Movie – Installation work on Matterhorn 09/2007 PermaSense installation 2007, images courtesy of Arte Television

18. Ruggedized, low-power sensor nodes [IPSN/SPOTS 2009]

19. Base station with stacked Mikrotik WLAN router Gumstix Verdex TinyNode GSM WLAN Router EMP Protectors IP68 Enclosure and Connectors

20. GSN live demo

21. New in 2009: WLAN and high-resolution imaging [EWSN 2009]

22. Webcam and weather station for site inspection

23. Movie – A perfectly normal day on the Matterhorn

24. Project webpage: http://www.permasense.ch SNF picture of the month 03/2009