Sensor Networks

Tempmesh (USWF, 2017 - 2021) 

As part of a restoration project designed to enhance Chinook salmon populations in the lower Yuba River, we sought to characterize river temperatures at micro-habitats scales relevant to juveniles. Given that temperatures vary more across the channel than they do longitudinally, temperature had to be assayed both along the length of a study reach as well as across the channel. These temperatures needed to be measured at least hourly in order to capture the totality of the diel fluctuations. It was necessary to sample for the full duration of juvenile residence in the lower Yuba River -- a six-month period over the winter. Though it was desirable to design a system that could sample for at least a year to capture the totality of seasonal fluctuations. We designed, implemented and deployed  a wireless sensor network that was installed to monitor temperature data on the Lower Yuba River. The mesh network was implemented using nodes that contained a MSP430 chipset with a radio operating at 433 MHz. We designed a network architecture which included a network storage function  to address intermittent link failures. We implemented an  event-based software architecture  of the mesh network node specifically in relation to energy optimization. We did not achieve 100% success. A number of the sensors were destroyed during periods of heavy flow and by beavers and bears. Nevertheless, we were able to get significant amount of data. This data which is the first of its kind will significantly help to push the science of understanding how river temperature profile impact the survival and growth of juvenile anadromous fishes species.

Funded by a grant from US Wildlife and Fisheries (USWF) 


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