Real-World Deployment of a Locally-Developed Tilt and Moisture Sensor for Landslide Monitoring in the Philippines

This paper describes the development and real-world deployment of an alternative instrumentation for monitoring slope deformation and water level intended as an early warning system for landslides and slope failures. The landslide monitoring system is composed of a "sensor column" that is buried vertically underground in a borehole. The sensor column consists of pipe segments each containing tri-axial accelerometers for measuring tilt, and capacitive sensors for water content measurements. Measurements taken in each segment are accessed via the Controller Area Network (CAN) communications protocol. The data from the sensor column are then sent to a remote host for post processing through the GSM cellular infrastructure. The sensors were initially tested on a small-scale slope model in which failure was induced through water seepage. Inspection of the column after the failure indicated good agreement between the visual tilt data and the measured tilt data from the accelerometers. The system has been subsequently deployed in a slope in Benguet province -- a mountainous and heavilypopulated region in the northern Philippines -- and is being monitored in real-time. We present the data collected by the sensor in the real world test site as well as share our experiences in involving the affected community as part of the holistic approach to humanitarian technology development in disaster mitigation.