Integration of wireless sensor networks in environmental monitoring cyber infrastructure

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have great potential to revolutionize many science and engineering domains. We present a novel environmental monitoring system with a focus on overall system architecture for seamless integration of wired and wireless sensors for long-term, remote, and near-real-time monitoring. We also present a unified framework for sensor data collection, management, visualization, dissemination, and exchange, conforming to the new Sensor Web Enablement standard. Some initial field testing results are also presented. The monitoring system is being integrated into the Texas Environmental Observatory infrastructure for long-term operation. As part of the integrated system, a new WSN-based soil moisture monitoring system is developed and deployed to support hydrologic monitoring and modeling research. This work represents a significant contribution to the empirical study of the emerging WSN technology. We address many practical issues in real-world application scenarios that are often neglected in the existing WSN research.