A low power wireless sensor node for the measurement of height variations of coastal sand dunes

in this paper the authors describe the structure of a wireless sensor node designed to measure height variations in coastal sand dunes. The paper focuses on the project and development of a sensing device able to measure the changes of height of sand dunes, based on an array of photoresistors (LDRs), designed to withstand the critical atmospheric conditions of coastal environments. Together with the sensing device, also a power control logic has been studied and developed, to reduce the power consumption leading to an ideal life time of the node of around two years. The sensor node is also provided with wireless communication capabilities based on the ZigBee communication protocol and is integrated in a network infrastructure for remote data collection. The proposed sensor node, together with a minimal network architecture, has been developed and tested directly on the beach to prove its effectiveness. In this paper, the overall structure of the node is described, along with its operating principle and the functioning of the power control logic.