An hybrid wireless-wired monitoring system for real-time rock collapse forecasting

Rock face collapses are one of the most dangerous and sudden natural risks in mountain environments. Traditional investigation techniques (e.g., strain gauge, inclinometer) cannot guarantee neither a non-invasive monitoring within the rocks nor a prompt alarm in case of possible collapse. Real-time monitoring systems, which might provide an effective evaluation of the dynamics of the phenomenon for a subsequent forecasting phase, generally rely on wired solutions that are unfeasible in environmental monitoring applications. In this paper, we present a real-time monitoring system for the rock collapse forecasting that exploits MEMS accelerometers and geophones (in addition to traditional sensors) for a non-invasive detection of micro-acoustic bursts associated with the formation and the evolution of the cracks within the rocks. The proposed monitoring system relies on an hybrid wireless-wired architecture that allows for detecting and localizing micro-acoustic emissions in real-time yet maintaining an high energy-efficiency by means of effective energy management policies and sophisticated energy harvesting mechanisms. The deployment area is the St. Martin mountain that dangerously insists on the town of Lecco (Italy).