Sensor Web is the combined Sensor network effort of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA and the University of Arizona in environmental monitoring . Each sensor platform is called a pod in addition to the more familiar phrase node which can be orbital or terrestrial, fixed or mobile with real time (or in situ) accessibility via the internet. Information flow is omni-directional where each pod sends out collected data to every other pod in the network.
Sensor webs have been field tested in the Huntington Botanical Gardens for soil moisture and temperature and in the Central Avra Valley Storage and Recovery Project for flooding detection.
Sensor Web identifies potential problems arising from ever cheaper supply of pods and pod miniturization in line with moores law:
- threat to local fauna that may try to ingest pods and choke.
- littering the environment with large amounts microelectronic gear.
references
Environmental Studies with the Sensor Web: Principles and Practice Kevin A. Delin, Shannon P. Jackson, David W. Johnson, Scott C. Burleigh, Richard R.Woodrow, J. Michael McAuley, James M. Dohm, Felipe Ip, Ty P.A. Ferré ,Dale F. Rucker, Victor R. Baker Sensors 2005, 5, 103-117 [1] open access publication