A staple of the oil industry, distributed temperature sensing (DTS)—capable of measuring temperature along a length of fiber-optic cable—is finding utility in environmental monitoring, helping researchers to tease out the hydrology of streams, air flow in valleys, and health of glaciers.

Wildfires, river basins, tsunami alerts, and environmental risk management are just some of the projects using OGC's interoperability framework for Web-based access and control of sensors and sensor data.

People have been trying to predict earthquakes for centuries—using animal behavior, weather, and seismic monitoring—but have had less than stellar success. As the human population shifts from a mostly rural existence to a mostly urban one, earthquakes exact a higher price, both in property damage and in lives lost.

In an increasingly wired world, knitting together data from disparate sources into an interoperable whole can present disaster managers and first responders with critical information during a major emergency or crisis.

The UAV's advanced sensor payload, developed by the US Army's Night Vision Lab and FLIR Systems, includes a high-resolution video camera, a high-resolution IR camera for night viewing, a laser rangefinder, a laser tracker, and a laser designator.

AETC's expertise in basic physics, signal processing and systems engineering complements SAIC's antisubmarine warfare sensor systems capabilities. It also expands SAIC's capabilities in the unexploded ordnance and counter mining.

Irrigation Smarts Tee Up Savings Nov 1, 2006 By: Tom Kevan

The growing demand for developed property is paralleled by the increasing need for irrigation. In reaction to these trends, local jurisdictions place tighter restrictions on water usage, and the cost of irrigation becomes significant. To reduce the cost of maintaining award-winning greens and fairways, Desert Mountain—a collection of six championship golf courses in the high Sonoran Desert north of Scottsdale, AZ—decided to install a wireless sensor network to take the guesswork out of turf management. With the aid of RF-enabled sensors, the club's director of agronomy, Shawn Emerson, has been able to reduce irrigation costs by 15%–20% and upgrade maintenance practices.

Advance warning, leading to community preparedness and potential evacuation, is the best way to mitigate the effects of natural disasters," says Frank Koester, vice president and director of ITT Space Systems Div., Commercial and Space Science Programs.

Wireless sensor networks seem to be everywhere. Technology magazines talk about them. Universities offer courses on the topic. Companies, both large and small, are working aggressively to push the development of these systems. Despite this interest and activity, such systems have not yet achieved the broad adoption envisioned by pundits and anticipated by engineers. Before this technology can attain its expected ubiquity, more effort is required to identify and satisfy real-world needs.

JJILA physicists have designed and demonstrated an "optical comb" capable of performing real-time analysis of the quantity, structure, and dynamics of a variety of atoms and molecules simultaneously, even in minuscule gas samples.