Design and Implementation of a DASH7-Based Wireless Sensor Network for Green Infrastructure

Globally, a dramatic demographic shift towards urbanization is occurring. Between 2000 and 2050, the proportion of people living in urban areas is projected to rise from 46.6% to 69.6%. Urbanization poses problems through effects such as environmental pollution, accidents, heat island effects, and climate change. With the rapid urban growth and development, the quality of green space available has been degrading. Furthermore, many land characteristics have been altered such that the whole water cycle has been significantly changed. Some of the considerable adverse effects of these changes include the increase in runoff which leads to flooding and poor quality of receiving waters. To improve storm water management, green infrastructures (GI) have become a promising solution by restoring the natural environments in big cities, creating a better living environment for the city’ s residents. In this paper, a wireless sensor network (WSN) was designed for the monitoring of green infrastructure in smart cities. A data acquisition system based on a new wireless network protocol—DASH7 for green infrastructure is evaluated, developed, and implemented. The DASH7 based WSN system is introduced as a better potential candidate in the case for midrange WSN/IoT green development use. The DASH7 WSN, integrated with a variety of sensors, including soil moisture, temperature, light, humidity, and pressure was designed and tested where sensor data was transmitted and displayed on a cloud server.