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GROUND |
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GROUND is an approach to the design of sensor and communications networks that is focused providing farmers, land and water resource managers, and environmental researchers with more flexible, resilient, and accessible sensor network capabilities.
Open, Collaborative, & Non-Proprietary. We are curating, documentating, and developing a collection of FOSS (Free and Open Source), accessible, interoperable software and hardware designs that will enable farmers and land & water resource managers to gain greater control over their sensor data. Sometimes this means simply producing better documentation (how-to guides and training videos) for existing, useful software and hardware; in other cases, it may require novel software and hardware development.
'Local-First' Data. In our approach, sensor and communications data are always immediately stored locally, on-site, and are always locally available -- even if the internet is currently not. (This approach to data storage has recently been termed 'local-first' -- see references here and here.) Data can then be selectively shared at the user's discretion with others (local and remote) through a variety of methods and formats.
Free and Open Source Hardware. We are also curating and developing a set of FOSS sensor hardware designs. Our aim is to find, document, or develop sensor hardware that enables users to have maximum flexibility with respect to supply chains -- including the option to produce (and sell) the hardware themselves.
GROUND is an alternative to most commercially-available networked environmental monitoring systems, which usually store data exclusively in 'the cloud', don't usually allow users to store and access their data locally 'offline', and use proprietary software hardware designs that are difficult or impossible to extend or modify.
Below are descriptions of designs we've curated and developed for various components of a sensor system that uses a GROUND approach:
Gateway / Hub Designs
Relay Designs
Sensor selection, calibration, and data interpretation is less trivial than it first appears. We are hoping to de-mystify the use of the more common sensors in land and water management (temperature, soil moisture), develloping training curricula and protocols and curating best practices. In a few cases we might develop our own sensors as well.
Despite the large number of emerging software and hardware options for effectively monitoring land and water resources, existing documentation is often spotty, inconsistent, or incorrect. We hope to develop accessible how-to guides and video tutorials to lead newcomers through the process of setting effective up sensor networks.
We have run several peer-learning workshops focused on sharing best practices in land and water resource monitoring. We'd like to develop curricula and pedagogical materials that would enable others to run similar workshops in their local communities.
If you'd like to support our work, we have
an account on opencollective
where you can help fund development.