Implementation of an NB-IoT Rain Gauge for Opportunistic Rainfall Sensing

Abstract—In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a portable rain gauge equipped with narrow-band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) connectivity to address some of the limitations of rainfall measurement using point-to-point microwave links. The lack of sufficient rain gauge stations along microwave link paths poses a challenge for accurate ground-truth rainfall data collection and estimation based on signal attenuation. We propose an NB-IoT device that integrates additional environmental sensors, including thermometers and an illuminance sensor, to provide more parameters for opportunistic sensing. The device operates independently of the power grid, enabling continuous measurement in remote locations, and is designed for low power consumption. We include test measurements to validate the feasibility of the device for the intended application. Furthermore, we show the correlation analysis between the device’s parameters and the calibrated present weather detector (PWD) and demonstrate the importance of data collection in the opportunistic sensing community.