A LoRaWAN Network for the Real-Time Monitoring of the Venice Lagoon: Preliminary Tests

Coastal and littoral biodiversity hotspot areas, such as the European Natura 2000 protected areas and the Venice lagoon, are understudied sites due to their diversity caused by the very heterogeneous conformation, including the intersection of many channels and rivers carrying different types of sediments. The current sampling systems are based on periodic sampling campaigns performed by human operators, that only allow the collection of a very limited number of measurements in time and space. In this paper we present the first prototype of a low-cost wireless sensing floating device able to provide measurements to an in-land server in real time: the device, named SENSWICH, is composed of a LoRaWAN node and a complete set of water quality sensors, selected with the help of the researchers operating in the Chioggia Marine Hydrobiological Station of the University of Padova, where the first sensor will be deployed.