TECHNICAL VIABILITY STUDY FOR BEHAVIORAL
MONITORING OF WILDLIFE ANIMALS IN DOÑANA
An 802.15.4 Co e age S udy in a Na u al Pa k
M. Dominguez-Mo ales, A. Jimenez-Fe nández, D. Cascado-Caballe o,
A. Lina es-Ba anco, R. Paz, G. Jiménez-Mo eno
Robo ic and Technology o Compu e s Lab, Uni e si y o Se ille, ETSII A . Reina Me cedes s/n, Se ille, Spain
[email p o ec ed]
R. So igue
Biological S a ion o Doñana, CSIC, A . Ame ico Vespucio. EDB-CNM, Se ille, Spain
Keywo ds: Wi eless senso ne wo ks, WSN, XBee, ZigBee, 802.15.4, Mo es, Wi eless co e age, Wild animals,
Doñana.
Abs ac : The s udy and moni o ing o wildli e and in semi- eedom has always been a subjec o g ea in e es . In
ecen yea s he echnology allows o design low cos sys ems ha acili a e hese asks: mic ocon olle s,
low-powe wi eless ne wo ks, senso s. GPS, sa elli e and VHF has been used o posi ion acking and
localiza ion o wildli e. Ou aim is o design a low-cos sys em o local moni o ing o wildli e (colla o
ha ness) wi h local memo y and emo e access. I will use mul iples senso s o beha io al and heal h
moni o ing and use he p ocessed in o ma ion locally o educe he s o ed da a, bu allowing o be
spo adically ansmi ed h ough wi eless ne wo ks. This colla will be based on an embedded low-powe
mic ocon olle wi h 802.15.4 anscei e and a se o senso s o p o ide da a (ac i i y and heal h) o he
animal unde moni o ing: accele ome e s, compass, humidi y, empe a u e, ligh , mic ophone, hea hy hm.
This colla is called mo e in wi eless senso s ne wo k (WSN) e minology. Only when one mo e is close o
an 802.15.4 mo e and unde eques , he colla will dump he in o ma ion o a hos da abase se e h ough
he 802.15.4 ne wo k. In his pape we p esen a iabili y s udy o he WSN o Doñana Na u al Pa k o
di e en mo e ansmission powe s, equencies and dis ances o co e age. ZigBee and XBee mo e has
been p o en.
1 INTRODUCTION
The moni o ing o animal li e can be classi ied in o
wo g oups: moni o ing wildli e and li es ock
ope a ions moni o ing ex ensi e. Du ing he second
hal o he wen ie h cen u y basically h ee wildli e
acking me hods we e used: Halle (2001),
Ma kham (2008), Findhol (1996) and Mech (2002)
by VHF acking, by GPS and by Sa elli e. The
adi ional VHF sys em collapse as soon as i s a ed
using mul iples colla s because o he sca ci y o
equencies assigned, which began o codi y he
signs ha each colla s o wa d o op imize
localiza ion, as in Allen (2009) wo k. Sa elli e
localiza ion mechanisms (A gos in pa icula ) a e so
expensi e ha only mig a o y animals we e used in
he con inen , as in Mech (2002) and Voda one
e e ences. Back in he nine ies yea s, localiza ion
mechanisms we e implemen ed based on ixed
nodes co e ing a wide a ea by iangula ion (wi hou
using GPS) wi h a p ecision o 50 me e s. This was
subsequen ly imp o ed by GPS ob aining a highe
p ecision, see Rempel (1995). Some o he sys ems
e e enced a e he Zeb aNe ha apa o using GPS
o implemen localiza ion, i includes o he senso s
o de ec he moni o ed animal ac i i y. Howe e ,
he main cha ac e is ics o ou sys em is ha i s o es
he da a collec ed locally and ha hese may be
ans e ed be ween di e en colla s un il hey a e
collec ed by he esea che .
The Zeb aNe sys em, see Juang (2002),
desc ibes mechanisms o da a collec ion om
di e en senso s in o de o p ocess he in o ma ion
o -line. This allows inding pa e ns in in o ma ion
ha can be associa ed o he a ious ac i i ies o
animal: ea , hun , sleep,... The possibili y ha his
pa e n ecogni ion can be pe o med locally on each
colla on he animal is e y a ac i e because i
educes he ansmission ime and he in o ma ion
pos p ocessing.
In his pape we p esen he esul s o a iabili y
s udy o applying WSN o hese colla s in he
Doñana Na u al Pa k. The iabili y s udy is ocused
on 802.15.4 ne wo ks wi h di e en powe
ansmissions and wo di e en equencies:
868MHz and 2.4GHz.
Nex sec ion p esen s a e iew o 802.15.4 WSN,
ocusing on ZigBee and XBee s anda ds. Sec ion 3
p esen s he scena io o he iabili y s udy. Then in
sec ion 4 we p esen some esul s and inally we
p esen he conclusions and u u e wo k in sec ion 5.
2 WSN TECHNOLOGIES
802.15.4 (Zigbee Alliance web page:
h p://www.zigbee.o g) is he mos ep esen a i e
example o Wi eless Senso Ne wo ks (WSN). I is a
s anda d ha co e s se e al PHY laye s and one
MAC laye , aiming o gi e low a e ne wo k se ice
o de ices wi h low capaci y ba e ies. Expec ed
ba e y ope a ion ime is 4 o 6 mon hs o bu on
ba e ies. Da a a es we e de ined o 250Kbps a
maximum, bu lowe da a a es a e possible by
choosing he app op ia e PHY laye o changing he
MAC pa ame e s. Communica ions secu i y is
ensu ed by AES enc yp ion and coexis ence is
sol ed by channel selec ion and ea u es such as
quali y o se ice o noise ca ie sensing help o
a oid busy channels. Loca ion in o ma ion is
possible h ough iangula ion o RSSI (as
implemen ed in Chipcon CC2431 chips), as in
Me e (2008). Ne wo k opologies allowed a e
cen alized (s a opology wi h a ne wo k mas e ) o
Ad-Hoc (pee o pee communica ions wi hou
mas e ). In s a opology, beacon enabled
communica ions make possible o ese e
ansmission slo s, gua an eeing da a a es and
making so eal ime applica ions possible.
802.15.4 is he base o Zigbee ha ies o gi e a
comple e solu ion (wi h mo e laye s and p o iles) o
low- a e, low-powe pe sonal a ea ne wo ks. A
p o ile is a se o p o ocols and de ini ions (such as
ype o messages, IDs, e c) ha mus be
implemen ed in case o adop ing a speci ic p o ile in
o de o achie e in e ope abili y be ween de ices.
One example o his is he ecen ly app o ed Zigbee
Heal h Ca e P o ile, which o e s an open s anda d
o heal h moni o ing and managemen de ices,
o e ing a wide a ie y o heal h-ca e o ien ed
se ices and p o ocols.
3 TESTING SCENARIO
Doñana Na ional Pa k, see Doñana (1994) e e ence,
in Andalusia occupies he igh bank o he
Guadalqui i Ri e a i s es ua y on he A lan ic
Ocean. I is no able o he g ea di e si y o i s
bio opes, especially lagoons, ma shlands, ixed and
mobile dunes, sc ub woodland and maquis. The
aunal in en o y includes 8 species o ish, 10
amphibians, 19 ep ile, 30 mammal and 360 bi d. I
is one o he la ges he on ies in he Medi e anean
egion and is he win e ing si e o mo e han 500K
wa e owl each yea . Doñana Na ional Pa k has
been a es ing g ound o conse a ion in Spain and
has become e y well known h oughou Eu ope due
o he con o e sies aced he e and he inno a i e
managemen app oaches ha ha e been aken. I is
he only p o ec ed a ea ha is no only a Na ional
Pa k bu also a Ramsa si e, a Biosphe e Rese e as
well as a Eu opean Communi y Special P o ec ion
A ea. I is also known as he si e which igge ed he
ounda ion o WWF in 1961.
The Doñana Scien i ic Rese e (DBR) is made
up by wo es a es wi h a su ace a ea o 10,000
hec a es, included in he 50,000 hec a es o Doñana
Na ional Pa k.
This a ea includes 4 la ge ecosys ems: beaches,
dunes, sc ubland, and ma shland. The auna includes
41 species o an s, 7 o eshwa e ish, 30 o es ua y
ish, 11 o amphibians, 19 o ep iles and 20 o
mammals. DBR has an impo an in as uc u e o
scien i ic esea ch: accommoda ion ooms, ield
labo a o ies, a lee o 4 wheel-d i e ca s, ho ses,
boa s; and pe sonnel.
In ap il 2006, he In e minis e ial Commission o
Science and Technology (CICYT) pa o he
Minis y o Educa ion and Science app o ed he
ecogni ion as Singula Scien i ic and Technological
In as uc u e (ICTS) o he Scien i ic Rese e o
Doñana. ICTS was c ea ed wi h wo objec i es: (a)
p o iding mode n communica ions and scien i ic
equipmen s in as uc u e o he Rese e in o de o
allow he s anda diza ion and au oma ion o
moni o ing na u al p ocesses, and o de eloping
esea ch ac i i ies ha could no be possible wi hou
he ICTS. And (b) p o iding access o hese acili ies
and welcoming o he scien i ic communi y o
de elop esea ch ac i i ies.
The ICTS is equipped wi h an ex ensi e
audio isual ne wo k o moni o ing; a me eo ology
and mic oclima ology moni o ing ne wo k;
a mosphe ic measu emen s equipmen s; hyd ology
and limnology; geomo phology; lo a and ege a ion
na u al p ocess moni o ing; wildli e census; low o
wa e and CO2; knowledge o he land on which si s
he ege a ion; geolocaliza ion h ough a ious
schemes like FindA e (GPRS and Wi i), RTLS o e
Wi i, RFID, ul asound o ha monic ada de ec o s.
Se e al 802.11 an ennas wa an y co e age o
wi eless in e ne access inside he Rese e.
In o de o s udy he iabili y o he
communica ions o wildli e moni o ing, wo
di e en 802.15.4 equencies has been es ed in his
wo k: 2.4GHz and 868MHz wi h di e en
ansmission powe and p o ocol s anda ds: ZigBee
2.4GHz 10mW and XBee 868MHz 300mW
Fou main zones o he Rese e we e selec ed o
he s udy: Ojillo (blue ou e in igu e 1): is a o es
zone, ela i ely plane; San a Olalla (pink ou e in
igu e 1): lagoon zone e y close o dunes wi h low
densi y o ege a ion; Humedales ( ed ou e in
igu e 1): comple ely open zone, mo e han 15Km o
ee obs acles loodplain, bu comple ely d y a ea
du ing ou s udy; and Dunas (pu ple ou e in igu e
1): his a ea is close o he sea. The e a e dunes ha
a e shi ing.
4 RESULTS
Figu e 1 shows a google map o Doñana. The map
shows se e al ou es o he co e age s udy.
Two co e age es s ha e been pe o med o
Texas ZigBee 2.4GHz and low powe ZigBee
anscei e s. Fi s one was done in a ela i ely open
ield (a San a Olalla), and ano he on a ee zone
(Ojillo). The maximum co e age ange measu ed
was a ound 250m and 60m espec i ely. This is due
no only o he powe o ansmission bu also o he
abso p ion p ope y o 2.4 GHz signals e sus
868MHz signals. 2.4GHz signal is mo e abso bed by
ege a ion han 868MHz.
868MHz XBee co e age s udy consis ed in
es ing he e iciency o he link be ween wo XBee
anscei e s a 868MHz and 300mW ansmission
powe . In he Palace o Doñana he e is a 25 me e s
high owe . In his owe we se up he base-s a ion
o he measu emen s (bo om yellow poin in igu e
1). The base-s a ion equipmen was composed by
one XBee mo e connec ed o a lap op h ough USB
and a so wa e applica ion w i en in C# is used in
o de o manage in o ma ion be ween mo es. This
so wa e applica ion con ains unc ions, p ocedu es
and s a e machines o implemen he communica ion
h ough XBee. Once he so wa e applica ion is
unning, i sends a b oadcas packe asking o mo e
disco e y, and hen i keeps wai ing o answe s.
When a leas one mo e ha e been disco e ed, and
using a so wa e ime , he i s mo e will
con inuously be ansmi ing in o ma ion using a
poin o poin link o he jus disco e ed mo e,
ansmi ing one packe pe second. Fu he mo e, he
XBee anscei e is able o make emo e AT
commands eques , his ea u e is used by owe
mo e o eques ing in o ma ion abou he powe o
las ecei ed adio packe o each ime o e low.
Powe adio ecep ion measu emen is e u ned o
owe mo e as a dB magni ude. Thank o he use o
applica ion so wa e, we can cha ac e ize he quali y
and adio powe o he anscei e links o he
Doñana Biological Rese e scena io.
Figu e 1: Google map o Biological Rese e o Doñana.
Blue ou e om Palacio o Ma alascañas ou e ended
a ound Ojillo. Pink ou e om Palacio o Dunes. Pu ple
ou e on Dunes. G een and ed ou es on Humedales.
The second mo e consis s on an XBee 868 MHz
anscei e a 300mW connec ed o a
mic ocon olle . The mic ocon olle is con inuously
e ansmi ing he same incoming packe . The e o e,
he owe mo e will ecei e he same ansmi ed
packe wi h in o ma ion abou he signal in ensi y in
dB hanks o he use o AT commands suppo ed by
XBee anscei e . Du ing he di e en es ed ou es
we ha e aken he GPS coo dina es a each poin o
each ou e o igu e 1. A hese poin s we ha e
measu ed he signal in ensi y in dB o he link on he
owe side o wo di e en posi ion o he mo e (2m
high and 0.5m high). Figu e 2 shows a g aph pe
each signi ican ou e. I can be seen ha he signal
is qui e good o eally open ields (Humedales),
ob aining a co e age ange o up o 13Km, while o
ee zones (Ojillo), he co e age age dec eases o
6Km and he signal in ensi y inc eases when
measu emen s a e made in a dense ee zone. A
Dunas zone we ealized ha he signal is los
immedia ely when measu ing om he owe mo e
(pink ou e), so we mo ed bo h XBee mo es o
Dunes zone and we ob ained a ound 0.8 Km. Resul s
o his zone a e p esen ed on igu e 2 bo om.
Figu e 2: Signal ecep ion in dB o Ma alascañas ou e
(blue on map), Humedales (we lands) ( ed on map) and
Dunes (pu ple on map).
5 CONCLUSIONS
This wo k p esen s a communica ions s udy in a
ee-building scena io (Doñana Biological Pa k).
This s udy was ca ied ou in a ious a eas o he
pa k (named abo e) o es how e ain and wea he
condi ions changes a ec he esul s. Due o he
hick ege a ion o he pa k, he signal emi ed in 2.4
GHz was easily abso bed, educing link dis ances
and, he e o e, signi ican esul s ha e been unde go
using 868 Mhz ansmissions.
The equipmen used, wi h 300mW o powe ,
eaches dis ances o se e al kilome es. In his way,
na u al habi a is no con amina ed wi h lo s o nodes
h ough he pa k (2 o 3 poin s could co e DBR).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This wo k has been in pa sus ained by he RDB-
ICTS 39/2010 Second Call Access 2009-2010 ICTS-
RBD (h p://ic s.ebd.csic.es/Lis a Con oca o iasAc i
on.do)
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