Real-time Measurement of Aeolian Sand Transport by means of LoRaWAN-based Sand Traps

The aim of this paper is to present the architecture of a novel sensing structure for the real-time, remote measurement of aeolian sand transport on beaches. The structure is based on the concept of sand trap, i.e., a device which is able to capture the sand transported by the wind and store it in a container. In the proposed architecture, the trap integrates a sensing platform able to periodically measure the weight of the collected sand and its transmission through LoRaWAN connectivity. The effectiveness of the proposed solution is demonstrated by a set of preliminary field tests carried out in a beach close to Pisa, Italy. The presented tests validate the capability of the system to transmit data from the underground, comparing the transmission performance with that achievable with the antenna positioned above ground. Then, the weight sensing capability of the system is validated by performing weight measurements with sand, achieving an accuracy in the order of few grams.