CLEVELAND, OH – A new high-tech radio network is being installed along Ohio’s shores as part of a communications initiative by federal communications agencies that will help improve the safety of the Lake Erie area and accelerate the development of water technology.
The unique wireless network is part of the Smart Lake Erie Initiative funded by the non-profit Cleveland Water Alliance (CWA), which is trying to increase access to real-time data on environmental conditions used by regional water managers, among others.
The network, which runs on the LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) protocol found in smart home devices, is expected to help track toxic algal blooms, chemical spills, urban flooding and other situations that require dozens or hundreds of sensors. monitor.
“We intend to use the network as a public resource and share its coverage with those who study, manage, and protect our water systems including water resources, university researchers, and many others in northern Ohio,” said Bryan Stubbs, CWA director.
The radios were installed this month at the University of Toledo’s Lake Erie Center, at several buildings at Case Western Reserve University’s Cleveland Campus, at the William G. Mather museum ship and on top of the Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building in Cleveland. Some are planned along the Ohio shoreline and other important inland areas and cities.
Each site can send and receive data from thousands of remotely located sensors within the listening area, which can be up to 20 to 30 miles from open water.
The first use of the new network involves transmitting data from specialized buoys that monitor the condition of lakes near the city of Cleveland’s water intake.
The pool already has a network of sensors that measure wind speed, water and air temperature, wave height, water pH, dissolved oxygen and other conditions.
Ed Verhamme, CEO of LimnoTech and president of Freeboard Technology, an Ohio company that maintains parts of the network and several beaches, said organizations around the lake are interested in new ways to monitor communities that are not hindered by current costs. of sensors and expensive telecommunications systems.
“We sent some packets of data from sensors installed in Sandusky Bay across Lake Erie to a gateway installed in downtown Cleveland,” Verhamme said. “Our testing so far shows that we can stay connected to our buoys 16 miles offshore, which previously had zero cellular coverage.”
The non-profit CWA works with researchers, academics, companies, governments and utilities in hopes of building a larger water industry in Cleveland.
The networking project is an offshoot of the Erie Hack technology innovation challenge.
The Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS) aims to develop similar network systems across the region as part of the Smart Great Lakes Initiative.
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