Optimisation in the Design of Environmental Sensor Networks with Robustness Consideration

Sensors (Basel). 2015 Nov 27;15(12):29765-81. doi: 10.3390/s151229765.

Abstract

This work proposes the design of Environmental Sensor Networks (ESN) through balancing robustness and redundancy. An Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) is employed to find the optimal placement of sensor nodes in the Region of Interest (RoI). Data quality issues are introduced to simulate their impact on the performance of the ESN. Spatial Regression Test (SRT) is also utilised to promote robustness in data quality of the designed ESN. The proposed method provides high network representativeness (fit for purpose) with minimum sensor redundancy (cost), and ensures robustness by enabling the network to continue to achieve its objectives when some sensors fail.

Keywords: data quality; environmental sensor networks; evolutionary algorithm; gap filling; noise detection; optimisation; sensor networks deployment; sensor networks design; spatial regression test.