Study on the propagation characteristic of electromagnetic wave based on WUSN

Abstract

Wireless underground sensor network (WUSN) is widely used in agriculture, frontier defense, and other fields with great research value. This paper takes the propagation characteristics of the electromagnetic waves that propagate in WUSN as research target, and systematically tests the effect of influence factors on the communication quality of electromagnetic waves. The influence factors are chosen on the basis of the propagation theory of electromagnetic waves. Specifically, the influence factors include the burial depth of sensor sub-node, the horizontal distance between nodes, the communication frequency, and the thickness of snow. Moreover, the experiments are carried out in normal and snow-covered soil. The propagation characteristic of electromagnetic waves is measured by received signal strength (RSS) and symbol error rate (SER). Finally, the selection of communication frequency in different application scenarios is concluded. The conclusions have a great significance for guiding the arrangement of WUSN nodes in different scenarios.

KEYWORDS:

• WUSN
• electromagnetic wave
• propagation characteristic
• buried node
• snow-covered environment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [Grant Number 62071199].

Notes on contributors

Qiuzhan Zhou

Qiuzhan Zhou received the bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and Ph.D. degree from Jilin University in 1997, 2001 and 2004 respectively. He was an Associate Professor from 2004 to 2015, and has been a Professor and a Ph.D. Student Supervisor since 2016. His current research interests include new sensing technology, technologies of IoT, intelligent signal processing and Big Data. His current researches and projects are funded by some related companies, NSFC and Provincial Science and Technology Department.

Xinyi Yao

Xinyi Yao received the bachelor’s degree in measurement and control technology and equipment from Jilin University in 2012, she is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in communication engineering. She is work with the WSD Team, under the help of Dr. Q. Zhou. Her research interest includes wireless sensor networks, signal processing and artificial intelligence.

Jikang Hu

Jikang Hu received the master’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Jilin University in 2014, he is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in communication engineering. He is work with the WSD Team, under the help of Dr. Q. Zhou. His research interest includes Internet of Things, intelligent networked car, pattern recognition, artificial intelligence.