Sensors 2010, 10(8), 7236-7262; doi:10.3390/s100807236
Wireless Sensor Network Deployment for Monitoring Wildlife Passages
1
Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Technical University of Cartagena, Campus Muralla del Mar, E-30202, Cartagena, Spain
2
Department of Telecommunications, AGH University of Science and Technology, Al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow, Poland
3
Department of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Avda. Américo Vespucio s/n, E-41092, Sevilla, Spain
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 1 February 2010 / Revised: 21 May 2010 / Accepted: 23 July 2010 / Published: 3 August 2010
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wireless Sensor Network and Its Application in Advanced Computer Science)
Abstract
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are being deployed in very diverse application scenarios, including rural and forest environments. In these particular contexts, specimen protection and conservation is a challenge, especially in natural reserves, dangerous locations or hot spots of these reserves (i.e., roads, railways, and other civil infrastructures). This paper proposes and studies a WSN based system for generic target (animal) tracking in the surrounding area of wildlife passages built to establish safe ways for animals to cross transportation infrastructures. In addition, it allows target identification through the use of video sensors connected to strategically deployed nodes. This deployment is designed on the basis of the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, but it increases the lifetime of the nodes through an appropriate scheduling. The system has been evaluated for the particular scenario of wildlife monitoring in passages across roads. For this purpose, different schemes have been simulated in order to find the most appropriate network operational parameters. Moreover, a novel prototype, provided with motion detector sensors, has also been developed and its design feasibility demonstrated. Original software modules providing new functionalities have been implemented and included in this prototype. Finally, main performance evaluation results of the whole system are presented and discussed in depth. View Full-TextKeywords:
wireless sensor network; simulation; tracking; wildlife monitoring
▼
Figures
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0).
Share & Cite This Article
MDPI and ACS Style
Garcia-Sanchez, A.-J.; Garcia-Sanchez, F.; Losilla, F.; Kulakowski, P.; Garcia-Haro, J.; Rodríguez, A.; López-Bao, J.-V.; Palomares, F. Wireless Sensor Network Deployment for Monitoring Wildlife Passages. Sensors 2010, 10, 7236-7262.