Modern geoscientific monitoring and early warning applications have strong need for reliable, accurate, and timely live sensor data, in order to continuously keep track of the geographic-based events of interest currently happening in their physical world. Due to advancements of sensor technology resulting in the availability of low-cost and miniaturized sensors, it is possible for a single monitoring application to utilize large numbers of sensors in the order of tens, hundreds or even thousands. The major problem is how to integrate or manage simultaneously these various, heterogeneous sensors within that single application space. Furthermore, how can monitoring applications exchange any sensor systems without being worried about integration problems and conflicts that arise due vendor-specific solutions (i.e. usage of proprietary communication protocols, interfaces, measurements data types and formats). In addition, how can people and applications better understand the sensors they are working with, and make sense of the provided sensor measurements data. This dissertation proposes a concept for interoperable management of heterogeneous, multi-sensors within landslide monitoring applications. The management focuses on loose integration of sensors, which includes sensor connection, command and control, as well as handling of different sensor measurements at syntactic and semantic levels. The concept provides a new perspective for model-based management or integration of sensors and also defines a generic minimal specification of a sensor access and control service (SACS). The SACS tends to complement the existing specifications which are either very general (i.e. global in design) or based on proprietary solutions (e.g. which is the current situation in landslide monitoring applications). A common SACS should enable interoperable integration of sensors in different applications. We also suggest that it is through generic logical sensor models that people and applications can easily integrate and better understand the types of sensors they are working with as well as the acquired measurements data. The definition and specification of generic and standards-based sensor models, as well as open, interoperable interfaces for sensor access and control services are important first steps towards achieving interoperable management of multi-sensors in landslide monitoring applications. Adopted for the proof of concept is a sophisticated, open standards-based field-based mobile data acquisition system we have developed for landslide monitoring. This system makes fully use of the possibilities of ubiquitous access – via wireless technologies – to various sources of information. The system’s mobile client employs different sensor systems for the capturing of new geometries of features as well as updating geometries of existing features.    «

Modern geoscientific monitoring and early warning applications have strong need for reliable, accurate, and timely live sensor data, in order to continuously keep track of the geographic-based events of interest currently happening in their physical world. Due to advancements of sensor technology resulting in the availability of low-cost and miniaturized sensors, it is possible for a single monitoring application to utilize large numbers of sensors in the order of tens, hundreds or even thousand...    »