The Sensor Web: A new instrument concept

The confluence of the rapidly expanding sensor, computation, and telecommunication industries has allowed for a new instrument concept: the Sensor Web. A Sensor Web consists of intra-communicating, spatially-distributed sensor pods that are deployed to monitor and explore environments. It is capable of automated reasoning for it can perform intelligent autonomous operations in uncertain environments, respond to changing environmental conditions, and carry out automated diagnosis and recovery. Sensor Webs could have as much an impact on the uses of sensors as the Internet did on the uses of computers. Sensor Webs are often confused with "distributed sensors" or "sensor networks". The unique feature of the Sensor Web is that information gathered by one pod is shared and used by other pods. In contrast, sensor networks merely gather data and information gathered by a particular pod on such a network does not influence the behavior of another pod. Thus, sensor networks collect data while Sensor Webs can react and modify their behavior on the basis of the collected data. This paper will outline the potential of the Sensor Web concept and describe the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Sensor Webs Project (http://sensorwebs.ipl.nasa.gov/). In particular, a prototype Sensor Web deployed at the Huntington Botanical Gardens will be discussed.