Predicting RF Path Loss in Forests Using Satellite Measurements of Vegetation Indices

• Author / Creator

  Jiang, Sujuan

• In this thesis, we propose a novel method for predicting the value of the radio frequency (RF) path loss exponent (PLE) from satellite remote sensing observations. The value of the PLE is required when designing wireless sensor networks for environmental monitoring. By taking field path loss measurements in single cells and extracting values of vegetation indices (VIs) from satellite data, we successfully build correlation models between PLE and VIs of different dates. We also characterize the composite correlation of all data from all the filed measurements, which covers the whole in-leaf phrase in forests. The correlations are strong (R^2 > 0.77) and exhibit high statistical significance (p < 0.01). It enables us to characterize and predict the RF propagation environment in forested areas without the need for field measurements, given that satellite data are available any location on Earth. We also propose a method of predicting missing high-resolution 30m x 30m Landsat 8 data required by our method from lower-resolution 250m x 250m MODIS observations that are not as easily degraded. Finally, we use the composite correlation model to predict path loss across multiple cells. A weighted sum method is applied to calculate the overall PLE value for a path across multiple cells. We compare the predicted RSSI values against actual field data. The result shows that the predicted RSSI data are very close to the field data with error less than 5%.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Satellite Measurement
  • Path Loss Exponent
  • Vegetation Index
  • RF Propagation

• Graduation date

  Spring 2015

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R36688R5D

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.