52°North is an open initiative that advances the development of cutting edge open source geospatial software. The initial focii of the open source technology development are Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) , Web Security and Digital Rights Management (DRM) . Other streams of work will open up according to community direction.

They host a collection of Java based web services implementations. Their products are published solely under the GNU General Public License (GPL) , but are also available – via a dual licensing model – to commercial users.

As an example, the 52N Sensor Observation Service enables interoperable, web-based access to sensors and real-time geosensor data. This product implements the current OGC Sensor Observation Service draft specification to access sensor information (SensorML) and sensor observations (O&M).
The 52N SOS allows specificatzion-conform provision of georeferenced measurement data. As a result, it is easily integrated in geodata-infrastructures and geoservice-infrastructures. In situ sensors (e.g. water gages), as well as remote sensing sensors can be used for data collection.

The project homepage is available here.

Advances in sensor technology and distributed computing, coupled with the development of open standards that facilitate sensor/sensor network interoperability, are contributing to the emergence of a phenomenon known as the ‘Sensor Web’. This phenomenon can be described as an advanced Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) in which different sensors and sensor networks are combined to create a sensor-rich feedback control paradigm.

Featuring an advanced and scalable architecture that supports numerous diverse and heterogeneous sensor types, a Sensor Web includes a range of sensors such as flood gauges, air pollution monitors, stress gauges on bridges, Webcams and satellite-borne Earth imaging devices.

A number of organisations are doing their own sensor web research. A collaborative research platform called the Sensor Web Alliance (SWA) has been founded. The aim is to pool resources in the SWA, coordinate research and allow participating organisations to share IP, which will spread risk and lower the cost of entry.

The Sensor Web Alliance webpage is here.

I came along an interesting project aimed at developing fully autonomous underwater sensor networks to protect critical infrastructure and water resources. The name of the project is DISCOVERY, which stands for Distributed Intelligence, Sensing and Coordination in Variable Environments.

DISCOVERY uses CSIRO-developed sensors called FLECK modules, which consist of a low-power processor, flash memory, radio transceiver, and rechargeable battery, and autonomous submersible robots with propulsion, actuation, acoustic and optical communication capabilities.

Ultimately these networks will be used to identify hazards to structures such as off-shore oil rigs. In order to operate in an underwater environment, the basic FLECK units will be equipped with compound-specific chemical sensing and potentially in-situ power harvesting. The DISCOVERY project is also carrying out a physics-based simulation of the distributed multi-agent networks it aims to create using the modified FLECK units cooperating with autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).

The project homepage is available here.