Scientist in Schools Program - Raising Awareness of Sensor Webs
Personnel from the Tasmanian ICT Centre are participating in the 'Scientist in Schools' program using recycled components from previous sensor network deployments to set up a mini Sensor Web at the Hutchins School in Hobart.
The small plot being used in the Sensor Web pilot. From left to right - Peter Croft, Head of the Science Faculty at the Hutchins School; Luke Hovington and Jessica Lethbridge, CSIRO summer vacation students.
Personnel from the Tasmanian ICT Centre are participating in the 'Scientist in Schools' program. Using recycled components from previous sensor network deployments, vacation students Luke Hovington, Jessica Clarke and Jessica Lethbridge, under the supervision of Andrew Terhorst, have set up a mini Sensor Web at the Hutchins School in Hobart.
A Sensor Web is a distributed information system that connects sensors, observation archives, processing systems and simulation models using open web service interfaces and standard information models.
The mini Sensor Web deployed at the Hutchins School integrates a wireless sensor network, based on the Fleck™ platform developed by CSIRO and licensed to Powercom, that measures soil water tension, with a mobile telephone sensor networking application developed by the students that reads water meters. This will be supplemented by data from an existing automatic weather station that must still be integrated into the mini Sensor Web. Observations collected by the sensor networks are exposed to the World-Wide Web via Open Geospatial Consortium compliant sensor service interfaces.
Year 8 to 10 students at Hutchins will be able to use the mini Sensor Web to monitor plant water use in a small plot. Students will be able to observe how plants react to different soil moisture conditions and irrigation treatments in near real-time. Students will gain valuable insight into plant physiology, soil properties, influence of weather/climate on evapo-transpiration, and how sensor networks can help us conserve water.
The Head of the Science Faculty at the Hutchins School, Peter Crofts, wants to see the Sensor Web grow to cover the entire school. "The small plot is only a pilot - I am keen to use this technology to reduce the school's ecological footprint. Should this pilot prove to be successful, we intend to monitor soil moisture conditions across all our sports fields and see if we can reduce our water use" he states.
"This is a neat project because it exposes students to cutting edge technology and how it can be applied to solve real-world problems" says Andrew Terhorst. He goes on to say "CSIRO benefits from this deployment as it serves as another test bed for trialling our Sensor Web ideas".
"We want to make science appealing to students, especially those in Year 8 to 10, who are starting to think about career options. This is what the Scientist in Schools program is all about." Andrew concludes.
