Sensors and Sensor networks

Low-Cost Sensor Records the Level of Rivers
Researchers have developed a method that allows the water level of rivers to be monitored around the clock. The cost-effective sensor is for instance suitable for area-wide flood warning systems.
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Sensor Technology Detects Fires Before They Start
Fire alarms generally operate by detecting the presence of smoke, open flame, or higher-than-normal levels of carbon monoxide. Such indicators, however, are byproducts of a fire once it has already started. By using functional nanomaterials-based fire sensor technology, researchers hope to take a step forward from existing detection methods.
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Mobile Data Collected While Traveling Over Bridges Could Help Evaluate Their Integrity
A new study suggests mobile data collected while traveling over bridges could help evaluate their integrity.
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Seismic Sensing Reveals Flood Damage Potential
Rapidly evolving floods are a major and growing hazard worldwide. Currently, their onset and evolution are hard to identify using existing systems. Seismic sensors already in place to detect earthquakes could be a solution to this problem.
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New System Could Provide Early Warning of Whakaari Eruption Risk
Kiwi volcanologists and engineers have finished testing an automated system that provides a warning when an eruption on Whakaari (White Island) becomes more likely.
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Next Generation Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Alerting Technology
DHS S&T concluded a proof-of-concept demonstration of the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) integration model. The model integrates next generation technologies with FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert Warning System (IPAWS) enabling alerting authorities to disseminate Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) with new capabilities.
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Wi-Fi System Improves Fire Detection
Engineers have developed a new fire detection system that could help save lives by monitoring the changes in Wi-Fi signals. A Sydney Harbour Tunnel explosion showcases the work of the researchers, which use wireless signals and artificial intelligence to more accurately identify dangerous fire situations.
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Making Muons for Scientific Discovery, National Security
The Pentagon and other agencies have sought advanced sources that generate gamma rays, X-rays, neutrons, protons, and electrons to enable a variety of scientific, commercial, and defense applications – from medical diagnostics, to scans of cargo containers for dangerous materials, to non-destructive testing of aircraft and their parts to see internal defects. The problem: None of these sources can image through concrete walls several meters thick, map the core of a volcano from the outside, or peer deep underground to locate chambers and tunnels. Muons — deeply penetrating subatomic particles – can do all those things. DARPA seeks a compact source for muons.
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New Wildfire Detection System Receives Funding Boost
The high intensity of the recent fire seasons in Oregon, coupled with the increasing wildfire risk this year as approximately three-quarters of the state is now in severe drought conditions, has highlighted how critical a new project, aiming to help with the early detection and monitoring of wildfires, is — both for firefighters and the general public.
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Fog Detection Software Helps Keep Travelers Safe
Fog and low stratus clouds over airports can create dangerous travel conditions that result in costly delays and disrupted travel plans. A new fog detection software will help.
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Flood Sensors to Support NYC Real-Time Flood Monitoring, Response
In the face of climate change, which is likely to increase the frequency and severity of floods, NYC needs access to real-time data providing critical information on when and where flooding occurs.
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WMD Threat Sensors Deployed on Police Vehicles
DARPA’s SIGMA+ program completed a 3-month test in Indianapolis, in which CBRNE sensors were deployed on IMPD vehicles.
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ShakeOut 2021: Earthquake Awareness Helps Community Preparedness
Nearly half of Americans are exposed to potentially damaging earthquakes where they work and live. Still others will be at risk when traveling. It’s a good idea for everyone, everywhere to know how to protect themselves during an earthquake.
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Earthquake System Model with Better Detection Capabilities
researchers developed a machine learning model that improves the accuracy of detecting earthquakes by 14.5 percent compared to the most accurate current existing model.
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DHS S&T Selects Two Industry Partners for Second Phase Wildland Fire Sensor Research
DHS S&T selected two industry partners for the second phase of research on wildland fire sensor. The first phase research was conducted in June 2021, and the next phase of the program will focus on hardening the sensors for longer-term field deployments.
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