Evaluation of LoRa for data retrieval of ocean monitoring sensors with LEO satellites

• Published in: IGARSS 2020 - 2020 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium
• Main Authors: Fernandez Capon, Lara Pilar, Ruiz De Azúa Ortega, Juan Adrián, Calveras Augé, Anna M., Camps Carmona, Adriano José
• Other Authors: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Doctorat en Teoria del Senyal i Comunicacions, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament d'Enginyeria Telemàtica, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament de Teoria del Senyal i Comunicacions, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. WNG - Grup de xarxes sense fils, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. RSLAB - Grup de Recerca en Teledetecció
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria de la telecomunicació; Oceanography; Internet of things; LoRa; Ocean monitoring; Sea ice; Earth Observation; Oceanografia; Internet de les coses; International Polar Year
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2117/365792; https://doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS39084.2020.9324377

The celebration of the International Polar Year in 2007 remarked the necessity to better monitor the polar regions. Moreover, the H2020 “Operational Network of Individual Observation Nodes” (ONION) project analyzed and proposed an overall EU strategy and technical guidelines to develop and implement innovative Earth Observation concepts in the time frame 2021-2027. The top priority that was identified was the Maritime Weather Forecast, and in particular the Arctic sea ice monitoring use-case. Currently, those needs have been addressed with remote sensing satellites or in-situ instruments. However, in-situ instruments often sink or crash with ice blocks. Additionally, these instruments are isolated, making challenging its deployment and the data retrieval, using LEO satellite communications (e.g. Iridium, OrbComm). This also poses a problem in terms of modularity and flexibility, since sensors rely on proprietary communication systems. This work proposes a modular and cost-effective solution to this problem applying the paradigm of the Internet of Things to this context. Particularly, Long Range (LoRa) is one of the most frequently used and efficient technologies that also ensures long ranges. As part of the presented work, a satellite constellation is proposed, analyzed to cover the Arctic region. The maximum number of sensors simultaneously using the LoRa technology is also evaluated. Peer Reviewed Postprint (published version)