Experiences with Sub-Arctic Sensor Network Deployment

TL;DR

This paper shares practical insights from deploying and maintaining low-power wireless sensor networks in remote, extreme Arctic environments for climate monitoring, highlighting their durability and operational success over three years.

Contribution

It provides a detailed case study of deploying a large-scale, low-power WSN in harsh Arctic conditions, demonstrating its reliability and minimal maintenance needs.

Findings

Networks operated for over three years with minimal maintenance.

Achieved reliable data collection in extreme weather and inaccessible terrain.

Used solar-powered gateways and low-power protocols for sustainability.

Abstract

This paper discusses the experiences gained from designing, deploying, and maintaining low-power Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) in three geothermally active remote locations in Iceland. The network was deployed for environmental monitoring and real-time data collection to assist in investigating the impact of global warming on the (sub)Arctic climate and the resulting carbon release from the region. Functional networks with more than 50 sensor nodes from three sites with extreme weather conditions and hard-to-access terrain have been collecting data since 2021. The networks employ primary cell-powered wireless sensor nodes equipped with DASH7 Alliance Protocol (D7A) for low-power data transmission and solar-powered D7A-cellular gateways for the backend connection. The WSNs have so far achieved over three years of uptime with minimal maintenance required throughout this period. We present a detailed discussion of different network components, their architecture, and the networks' overall performance and reliability.