A Wireless Sensor System for Long-Term Microclimate Monitoring in Wildland Cultural Heritage Sites

Microclimates in many wildland cultural heritage sites are not under surveillance up to now, due to the lack of power supply and network access. However, accurate microclimate data in cultural heritage sites are very important for research and conservation. In this paper, we present a wireless sensor system for long-term microclimate monitoring in wildland cultural heritage sites, and its deployment at the Mogao Grottoes. The system integrates wireless sensor network (WSN), long-distance wireless polling network (LWPN) and Internet to fit the complex geography of the Mogao Grottoes. Both robust hardware and fault tolerance strategies have been developed to ensure long-term stable monitoring. The currently deployed system consists of 241 data sensors covering 57 typical caves. The reliability and long life-time of the system are verified through network and battery performance evaluations at the end of the paper.