Vodafone is testing Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) technology in two English forests, helping researchers understand the role of trees in combating climate change. The Newbury-based operator is working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Forestry Research on the project, which will also serve as a demonstration of the potential of NB-IoT. NB-IoT is a licensed Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technology designed for use by mobile operators who want to capture a share of the IoT connectivity market. Although cellular networks have a clear advantage in terms of coverage, they consume more power than Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Sigfox.
Internet of trees
The propagation characteristics of NB-IoT ensure that it can connect devices that need to be in place for more than five years, making mobile networks more suitable for mass sensor deployment in utilities, agriculture, and others. industries In this latest trial, sensors attached to trees in two forests (Alice Holt Forest in Surrey and Hardwood Forest in Northumberland) will provide data to Defra, which will be able to assess the impact of temperature and humidity. and soil moisture affects tree growth and function. This information will allow scientists to estimate how trees can mitigate climate change by absorbing or storing carbon from the atmosphere. Defra and Forest Research will have findings to share with policy makers and the public. Defra's 25-year environmental plan includes an ambition to increase forest cover in England, while the government has committed to increasing tree planting to 30,000 hectares across the UK by 2025. "Trees are a natural resource the only one that plays a crucial role in combating the biodiversity and climate crises we face," said Malcolm McKee, CTO of Defra. “New technology provides better data and, most importantly, allows us to monitor places that current technologies cannot reach. "This innovative collaborative project has the potential to transform the way we can collect and analyze data, and reduce the need for frequent site visits, especially in remote rural areas," added Matthew Wilkinson, Research Scientist at Forest Research. “The project will also help us collect more data, which is essential to focus efforts on measuring each tree's contribution to climate change. If the trial is successful, we hope it will expand to other areas of environmental monitoring and mean a dramatic change in the amount of data we can collect and analyze.