Performance Testing of the Wireless Sensor Network System for Hurricane Monitoring

A wireless pressure monitoring system was developed by Florida Institute of Technology to measure wind induced pressure on low-rise structures during hurricanes. This study presents tests made to evaluate the performance of the sensors and their ability to measure accurate pressure variations. To test the reliability of the pressure sensors, a series of tests were designed. The resulting measurements were then compared to secondary references. The measurements were also compared to the basic Bernoulli theory. Further, the wind tunnel measurement allowed for the development of the first comparative computational fluid dynamics simulation and experimental results. Due to the components packaging in the remote, the sensor case cannot be completely streamlined. The resulting shape caused some aerodynamic disturbances. In order to study the sensor shape´s influence on the pressure measurements, different experiments were set up. Specifically, by using a roof shaped ramp model mounted on a van, a highway test was performed, allowing examination of the error caused by the sensor´s shape. Another test was performed at the University of Florida Hurricane Simulator to study the gust (unsteady) effects. This test revealed that the sensors were sensitive to mechanical vibrations. The paper addresses the sensor network systems topic of the conference.