An IoT LoRaWAN Network for Environmental Radiation Monitoring

A reliable and highly scalable Internet of Things (IoT) end-to-end data infrastructure has been developed for environmental radiation monitoring at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) based on a low-power wide-area network (LPWAN). The proposed system, called Waste radiation MONitoring (W-MON), consists of an interconnected network of thousands of highly sensitive and ultralow-power gamma radiation sensors acting as long range (LoRa) transceivers. The aim of the system is to improve and automatize the radiological controls of conventional waste containers. The end devices measure the radiation levels in the waste containers on a continuous basis and send the data periodically to the LoRaWAN network server. The network has been deployed in an outdoor environment covering hundreds of hectares. A set of web-based user applications for real-time monitoring, data visualization, and status control of the devices have been designed based on open-source tools. The data pipeline infrastructure has been designed to allow an easy integration into the overall CERN Radiation and Environment Monitoring Unified Supervision service (REMUS).