Effects of natural propagation environments on wireless sensor network coverage area

Abstract

This work presents new near-ground propagation models at 915 MHz based on field measurement data for three naturally occurring environments (open fields, woods and wooded hills). The models are incorporated into a network simulation for randomly distributed transmitting sensors. The effects of the various. environments on coverage area are explored for various power transmission levels. This work has implications on quantifying the spatial-temporal resolution of single and multiple hop wireless sensor networks as a function of both transmission power constraints and the environment in which the network is deployed.