Integration of Wireless Sensor Networks into Cyberinfrastructure for Monitoring Hawaiian “Mountain-to-Sea” Environments

Abstract

Monitoring the complex environmental relationships and feedbacks of ecosystems on catchment (or mountain)-to-sea scales is essential for social systems to effectively deal with the escalating impacts of expanding human populations globally on watersheds. However, synthesis of emerging technologies into a robust observing platform for the monitoring of coupled human-natural environments on extended spatial scales has been slow to develop. For this purpose, the authors produced a new cyberinfrastructure for environmental monitoring which successfully merged the use of wireless sensor technologies, grid computing with three-dimensional (3D) geospatial data visualization/exploration, and a secured internet portal user interface, into a working prototype for monitoring mountain-to-sea environments in the high Hawaiian Islands. A use-case example is described in which native Hawaiian residents of Waipa Valley (Kauai) utilized the technology to monitor the effects of regional weather variation on surface water quality/quantity response, to better understand their local hydrologic cycle, monitor agricultural water use, and mitigate the effects of lowland flooding.

The impact of agricultural activities on water quality: A case for collaborative catchment-scale management using integrated wireless sensor networks

“…The system consisted of an array of nodes consisting of water quality sensors (temperature, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity), weather stations, sensor data loggers (InteleCell), and video monitors. Preliminary results showed improvement over traditional sampling methods (Kido et al, 2008). The 'SoilWeather' network was used in Finland for providing high temporal resolution on weather conditions, soil moisture and water quality (Kotamäki et al, 2009).…”

“…These water resources receive contaminants as a result of activities up in the catchment, thus providing insufficient information for quantifying explicit responsible activities. Fewer applications are intended for large-scale observations (Kido et al, 2008, Kotamäki et al, 2009, Cayan et al, 2003, but these are prototype deployments based on limited monitoring points across the catchment. A major step in this direction is the new network of terrestrial environmental observatories in Germany that provides real-time access to instruments in a multi-scale and multi-temporal mode for the monitoring of relevant fluxes of trace-gases, water and matter in all important environmental compartments at the catchment-scale, e.g.…”

“…Current projects are focused on the development and deployment of the required infrastructure for enabling high-temporal, real-time water-quality observations to be made available through GSM or internet on a central data repository (Kotamäki et al, 2009, Kido et al, 2008. These do not include addressing management and control decisions, to minimize and prevent individual stakeholder's nutrient/contaminant contributions, in an autonomous and dynamic manner.…”

Watershed services in the humid tropics: Opportunities from recent advances in ecohydrology

“…Offthe-shelf cameras have also been applied successfully to record water level (Gilmore, Birgand, & Chapman, 2013) and discharge (Bradley, Kruger, Meselhe, & Muste, 2002;Tsubaki, Fujita, & Tsutsumi, 2011), plant phenology (Crimmins & Crimmins, 2008;Nijland et al, 2014), and cloud cover (Scholl, 2015). To compile data, wireless sensor networks can also be used to provide connected and sometimes real-time data on a range of environmental parameters within an area (Kido et al, 2008;Zia, Harris, Merrett, Rivers, & Coles, 2013).…”

A framework for assessing ecosystem services in acequia irrigation communities of the Upper Río Grande watershed

“…The hydraulic culture is likewise derived from a hybrid combination of cultures. This sort of infrastructure, often referred to as ‘cultural capital’ is found in other irrigation communities worldwide such as those of Bali or Hawai'i, where indigenous and nonindigenous management structures coexist with a particular language, culture, and landscape understanding. Another way to think about it is as part of querencia , a term that translates roughly from Spanish as ‘love of place’ …”