Assessment of ground movement is an important task in the field of geomonitoring. The data can be used to continuously monitor unstable areas, understand underlying physical principles, and to develop forecasting models. Therefore, it is crucial, to collect movement data at an adequate temporal and spatial resolution. Recent and ongoing advancement in the field of sensing devices and IoT in general provide a solid technological foundation which can be applied in geomonitoring. However, it is crucial to adopt these systems to the specific requirements of alpine regions (e.g. environmental conditions, accessibility etc.).
The aim of the work is to develop a low-cost system for assessing ground movement remotely and in real-time.
The system consists of several mobile units and a fixed gateway. A local network is established which enables the transmission of sensor data from the mobile units to the gateway. The gateway transmits the assessed data to an online database for further processing. Gateway and mobile units are equipped with a multiband GNNS receiver for position tracking in sub-centimeter level. The mobile units are equipped in addition with a 6-axis IMU allowing the continuous measurement of acceleration and orientation.
Movement data was successfully recorded by the mobile sensor units and transmitted to the gateway. Data was stored at the gateway as well as transmitted to the cloud storage enabling remote access of movement data. The combined approach based on GNNS and IMU data enables a robust system for accessing movement behavior.
Digital technologies as IoT enables a novel approach in geomonitoring. The combination of miniaturized sensors in combination with microcontrollers enables the realization of small measurement units which can be easily deployed also in harsh environments. The system will be scaled and tested for different applications in the geomonitoring field.