An Internet of Things (IoT) Application on Volcano Monitoring

Abstract

In the last few years, there has been a huge interest in the Internet of Things (hereinafter IoT) field. Among the large number of IoT technologies, the low-power wide-area network (hereinafter LPWAN) has emerged providing low power, low data-rate communication over long distances, enabling battery-operated devices to operate for long time periods. This paper introduces an application of long-range (hereinafter LoRa) technology, one of the most popular LPWANs, to volcanic surveillance. The first low-power and low-cost wireless network based on LoRa to monitor the soil temperature in thermal anomaly zones in volcanic areas has been developed. A total of eight thermometers (end devices) have been deployed on a Teide volcano in Tenerife (Canary Islands). In addition, a repeater device was developed to extend the network range when the gateway did not have a line of sight connection with the thermometers. Combining LoRa communication capabilities with microchip microcontrollers (end devices and repeater) and a Raspberry Pi board (gateway), three main milestones have been achieved: (i) extreme low-power consumption, (ii) real-time and proper temperature acquisition, and (iii) a reliable network operation. The first results are shown. These results provide enough quality for a proper volcanic surveillance.