Detection and Early Warning of Landslides using WSN: A Real World Deployment at Western Ghats and Himalayas, India

Seminar by Dr. Maneesha V. Ramesh, Director & Professor at Amrita Center for Wireless Networks and Applications (AWNA) and Dean for Amrita Center for International Programs, Amrita University

Natural disasters are most dangerous events occurring in earth due to geological, meteorological and hydrological processes. Since the natural disasters cannot be prevented, the only way to decrease the loss due to such incidents is to develop systems that perform continuous monitoring and gives early warning. Landslides are one of the most destructive natural disasters. Wireless sensor networks (WSN) are one of the most promising emerging technologies, providing the opportunity for real-time monitoring of geographical regions (remote and hostile) that are prone to disasters. With a focus on landslide detection, this work reaffirms the capability of wireless sensor networks for disaster mitigation.

A wireless sensor network for detecting rain-fall induced landslides have been deployed. A complete functional system consisting of 150 geological sensors and 20 wireless sensor nodes was deployed in Idukki, a district in the southwestern region of Kerala State, India, a highly landslide-prone area in the Western Ghats. The wireless sensor network system gathered vast amounts of data such as correlated sensor data values on rainfall, moisture, pore pressure and movement, along with other geological, hydrological and soil properties, helping to provide a better understanding of the landslide scenario. Using the wireless sensor networks system was developed an innovative three-level landslide warning system (Early, Intermediate and Imminent). This system has proven its validity by delivering a real warning to the local community during heavy rains in the July 2009 monsoon season. The implementation of this system uses novel data aggregation methods for power optimization in the field deployment. As a result of the successful deployment in the Western Ghats, the Indian government now wants to extend the network to other possible landslide areas also such as the Himalayas. A pilot deployment of this system has been done at Chandmari, Sikkim, Himalayas.