Environmental Sensors Back to top

Environmental sensors are ususally small and only sense for single small aspects of a habitat, such as rain fall, sunlight, or some chemical presence. They are often deployed in groups to collect different amounts of information in a given area. The sensors only gather information, another system must be used to analyze and make sense of the data that the sensors gather. Sensors create a problem in calibration and needing to be able to function for long periods of time without the need for constant maintainance. Ideally any sensor network placed in the Galapagos would be wireless, which presents another set of problems. Wireless networks are notorious for having security and reliability problems.

Research from September (Posted: 11 October 2004)

(June 2004) In standard sensor network platforms the devices range in size from being about a milimeter to the size of a PDA. One of the key components to a sensor network is being able to fulfil a requirement of always on power. To make special-purpose sensors as small and inexpensive as possible, flexibility is sacrificed. The quantity and range of small sensors often requires that they run on battery power. Any operating system used must "tightly integrate wireless connectivity." Sensor network systmes require a heirarchy of nodes from the sensors to the analysis and storage nodes. The four main node platform clases in recent years in wireless sensor networks are: specialized sensing platforms, generic sensing platforms, high bandwidth sensing, and gateway.1

(June 2004) "[Wireless sensor networks] are susceptible to a variety of attacks, including node capture, physical tampering, and denial of service, while prompting a range of fundamental research challenges." Applications for wireless networks include monitoring oceans, earthquakes, building safety and wildlife. Sensor devices are limited in their capacities for energy computation and communications. The sensor nodes are usually suseptible to physical attack because they are often deployed in accesible areas.2

(June 2004) Sensor networks are now being scaled to the sizes of the organisms they are used to study. They must also be durable under various environmental stress, and be able to remain in the field for long periods of time without human interaction. They must also be really reliable in their connectivity with "cyber infrastructure" to allow for the collection and analysis of data. Sensors are often used to measure the microclimates that the organisms they monitor experience.3

Reference

  1. Hill, Jason, Mike Horton, Ralph Kling, and Lakshman Krishnamurthy.The Platforms Enabling Wireless Sensor Networks. Association For Computing Machinery. Communications Of The ACM. New York: June 2004. Vol. 47, Iss. 6, pp. 41-46

  2. Perrig, Adrian, John Stankovic, and David Wagner.Security in Wireless Sensor Networks Communications of the ACM. New York: June 2004 Vol. 47, Iss. 6, pp.53-57

  3. Szewczyk, Robert, Eric Osterweil, Joseph Polastre, Michael Hamilton, Alan Mainwaring, and Deborah. Habitat Monitoring with Sensor NetworksCommunication of the ACM. New York: June 2004 Vol 47 Iss. 6, pp. 34-40

  4. Wolfbeis, Otto S. Fiber-Optic Chemical Sensors and Biosensors. Analytical Chemsitry. 2004, 76, 3269-3284
Note:
Not much more research can be done on the environmental sensors until the team determines what we should monitor in the environment. Research will be started on the fishing practices around our islands.

Power Sources Back to top

26 October 2004 (1996)

References

  1. Starner, T. "Human-powered Wearable Computing." IBM Systems Journal. 1996 35, 3,4 pp. 618-629

Fishing Back to top

Fishing is a major issue for our islands. There are poachers that both national fishers and from other countries. Also there is a major fishing industry in Ecuador. Conflicts between industry revenue and conservation have resulted in repeated militant actions by the fishermen. The belligerence of the fishermen may be a bigger issue in the big picture than the simple issues of poaching within the Galapagos Marine Preserve and just outside its boundaries.

8 October 2004
(19 July 2001) Two boats, one from Costa Rica and one from Colombia were caught by the Galapagos National Park Service poaching sharks. The boats were found to have caught sharks from long line fishing. The sharks had been cut up, where the backs of the animals, and their fins could be found. The sharks were determined to be hammerheads.1

(28 July 2003)

9 October 2004
(12 March 2004) The Galapagos islands are surrounded by 129,499 sq. km of marine preserve; one of the world's largest marine preserves. People were drawn to the Galapagos Islands by an illegal fishing boom in the 1990s. Major fishing exports are shark fins and sea cucumbers to Asia. When the fishing began, the Park Rangers were illequiped to patrol and aprehend violators. This was changed, when a grant was given by the United States Agency for International Development allowed them to upgrade their boat fleet, giving them the engines and modern radar they needed to catch poachers.3

Reference

  1. "Colombian and Costa Rican boats caught illegally fishing in the Galapagos Marine Reserve" Charles Darwin Foundation
    http://www.darwinfoundation.org/news/news07190101.html

  2. Carrera, Ana Maria. "Fishing in the Galapagos Gets New Guidelines." Extract from El Comercio
    http://www.goecuador.com/ezine/enghtml/features/galapagosfish.html

  3. Hile, Jennifer. "Illegal Fishing Threatens Galapagos Islands Waters." National Geographic on Assignment12 March 2004. 9 October 2004.
    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/03/0312_040312_TVgalapagos.html

  4. Ruttenberg, Benajmin I. Effects of Artisanal Fishing on Marine Communites in the Galapagos Islands. Conservation Biology. December 2001. 15,6, pp. 1691-1699

Note:
There was a redistribution in research so I have ended my research on fishing.