Abstract
Internet of Things (IoT) systems are starting to be developed for applications in the management of water quality monitoring systems. The chapter presents some of the work done in this area and also shows some systems being developed by the authors for the Alentejo region. A general architecture for water quality monitoring systems is discussed. The important issue of computer security is mentioned and connected to recent publications related to the blockchain technology. Web services, data transmission technology, micro web frameworks, and cloud IoT services are also discussed.
TopWater Management Iot Applications
IoT applications for water management in rural environments address two questions: irrigation water quality management and water resources management.
In Portugal, information about the water quality and water resources is presented online at the (http://snirh.pt/) Internet site. This data is collected using traditional chemical and physical analysis from samples collected in the field. Unfortunately, due to cost issues, the data at many sites is not collected anymore. IoT systems are typically low cost and could present an alternative for the problem of updating old networks of water quality monitoring systems.
During the last few years some proposals for IoT based water quality monitoring systems have appeared in scientific literature. A short review follows.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Water Quality Management Systems: Electronic systems that automatically collect data about physical and chemical properties of water. These systems may provide only raw data about the water characteristics, present this data as charts and other graphical view, or apply machine learning techniques to further enhance the water quality analysis.
Blockchain Technology: A decentralized and public digital ledger used to register transactions and other data, guaranteeing thrust on the recorded information, through a cryptographically secured chain of blocks.
Data Transmission Protocols: A set of rules that define the way data is transferred between different agents. A data transmission protocol defines the physical media to the composition of the message itself, possible going through error detection and correction.
Web Framework: Software providing a standard way to develop web applications, such as web services, web resources or application interface protocols. Web frameworks are usually developed for a single programming language.
Computer Security: Area of study related to the protection of computer systems from harmful interference, potentially damaging to hardware, software or other data, eventually leading to information theft, misdirection of services or other unlawful events.
Internet of Things: A set of technologies, like microcomputers, communications networks and sensors combined and integrated to provide insight about different physical and chemical processes remotely.
Chemical Sensors: A chemical sensor measures the change in composition of a substance like the PH or the quantity of a substance in mole.
Machine Learning: The field of science where algorithms that learn from data are studied and used for the purpose of object classification. These algorithms are applied to data analysis and used for the construction of models applied to prediction.
Cloud: A shared set of computing resources, with easy access and management, usually through the Internet. It may provide a very large and configurable set of resources: network, CPU, data storage, message brokerage, etc.
Physical Sensors: A sensor that measures the change in a physical parameter, like temperature or electric current, of a body or substance.