Climate Change Adaptation with SenViu(TM)

ON 06/11/2022 AT 11:12 PM

Engineers at Climate Survival Solutions have developed a new remote monitoring system for use with their new Tataouine Community and Research Center project, currently under way in Arizona, with engineering contributions from multiple international sites.

INTRODUCTION

Governments around the globe have pledged to curb their greenhouse gas emissions with the hope to limit the global warming to 1.5C by 2050. This temperature rise is so important, as a lot of experts believe that warming the globe 1.5C or more will cause unpredictable and increasingly violent weather events and unprecedented rising sea levels.

While various organizations, companies and government worldwide tries to limit global warming using technologies, campaigns, and stricter policies, some independent scientists and researchers believe that humanity have already blew past the temperature limit years ago. What these organizations and governments are trying to prevent is in fact already happening. There is no turning back, all that humanity can do is to be prepared of what’s to come.

The changes that earth is currently undergoing is becoming more evident if we only pay close attention to what is happening around us – unpredictable weather events that cause massive flooding, rouge wildfires, and drought in various areas of the globe; the rising sea levels and acidification of seawater; the changing migration patterns of some insects and animals, are just a few examples – the known established models used by the scientific community for decades doesn’t hold true anymore in a lot of cases. It is becoming a lot more difficult these days to predict certain weather events and weather patterns just by relying on computer models and some antiquated weather monitoring systems, let alone the prediction of tornadoes and earthquakes is not available to date.

The prospect of a stand-alone monitoring system becomes an attractive option, especially these times where we are seeing more unpredictable weather patterns and conditions. The information is available right away to the users so they can make decision in real-time, allowing for faster response with accurate information. Total preparedness can be achieved with the help of an on-premise monitoring system.

Hurricane Dennis at Key West, Florida

Preparedness towards severe weather conditions can be enhanced and augmented with the use of on-premise reliable monitoring system. Photo: Image by David Mark from Pixabay

EASY-TO-USE ON-PREMISE MONITORING SYSTEM

The key to enabling a reliable and effective monitoring system is with the use of low-power sensors – wired and wireless -- that are tightly integrated to a data storage and visualization software. Using single-board industrial-grade computers allow installations in places where power is limited and the ability to work in harsh-environment applications. SenViu™ is a platform that offers both hardware and software solution for weather monitoring, weather mapping, and weather forecasting with the use of modern prediction algorithms. Experimental systems such as earthquake and tornado early warning devices will be available in the platform as well.

The sensors and gateways work as plug-and-play that makes them easy to deploy in a wide scale with minimal effort and cost. The self-diagnostics and asset management features for sensors is what makes the network of sensors easy to troubleshoot and maintain for critical deployments. The ability to monitor the health status of the devices in real-time, know exactly the maintenance cycle for these devices, parts availability, and being able to view the sensor data on the same platform is a game changer it the world of IoT software.

BEYOND WEATHER MONITORING

Tataouine Community and Research Center is a model project spearheaded by Climate Survival Solutions (www.climatesurvivalsolutions.com)

. The project aims to show to world how to be self-sufficient in this changing climate through innovative climate-resilient building structures, low-impact green energy systems, wastewater treatment systems, food production, low-carbon construction, among others, with all these processes inspired by nature.

SenViu™ is an integral part of the Tataouine Center in that it is the main system that runs the control, monitoring, and management of various sensors and controllers utilized in all areas of the operation including:

Food Production

Sensors such as pH, moisture, and ammonia will be deployed in food production systems (hydroponics, aquaponics, aeroponics, soil) to monitor various parameters. Controllers such as relays will be used to trigger valves that carry nutrients for the plants for optimal plant growth and minimal human intervention of the processes.

Energy Systems

Voltage, current and power sensors will be deployed to closely monitor the status of the energy systems from solar panel, wind and in-house developed engines to make sure the operation is optimized. Control systems through analog outputs and relays will be deployed for automation and fail-safe operation of various components of the system.

Tataouine Community and Reseach Center

Artist's rendering of the new Tataouine Community and Research Center/ Photo: Tataouine Community and Reseach Center

Wastewater Treatment System

All wastewater generated by the community will be recycled via a state-of-the art algae reactor units that utilize various sensors to make sure operation is always efficient and safe. Algae culture will be at the heart of the operation and will be utilized to convert waste nutrients to various materials, and the SenViu™ platform will be used to help optimize the growth of algae by monitoring various parameters.

Security and Surveillance

To ensure the safety of the inhabitants, multiple security and surveillance systems will be deployed and connect to the SenViu™ Control Center. Certain alarms and alerts can be set from the control center if triggers are activated.

THE SENVIU™ PLATFORM

In simplest terms, SenViu™ is a vertically integrated internet-of-things (IoT) platform that supports a wide variety of sensors and controller modules used in various applications ranging from Smart Cities to Smart Farming to Smart Factories. The platform is flexible enough to be adapted to virtually any applications.

Machine Learning (ML) is an integrative part of the system to aid users in detecting anomalies and certain events with minimal efforts on their part. In applications where there are hundreds or even thousands of sensors deployed, ML helps in sifting through the data in real-time and sending alerts, allowing cities to respond much quicker to various events.

Senviu Workflow diagram

The SenViu™ Workflow starts with determining the end-application, then choosing the sensors and controllers required for that application and what technology to use to connect those hardware components to SenViu™. The data from the sensors can be visualized and stored within the platform, and alerts sent to the user if certain conditions are met. Photo: Climate Survival Solutions, Inc.

CONCLUSION

Enhancing the adaptive capacity of humanity to the ever-changing climate is the best thing that we can do at this point of time. Even in an ideal case that humans are able to cut greenhouse gas emissions to zero, it will take hundreds of years before the temperature come back down to pre-industrial era. The good news is that it is not too late to seize this golden window of opportunity to be prepared physically,