From SwissExperiment

The Swiss Experiment Platform

The Concept

In implementing the Swiss Experiment Platform, we have been asking ourselves the following questions:

• How could a scientist benefit if they could search for all the measurements of the type that they need and decide their fieldsite location based on this; if they could contact the owner to request and be immediately granted online access to the data through the tools of their choice; and if they could trust the data provided to them because there is sufficient supporting information to know how the measurement was carried out and what problems occurred. How much money could be saved in reusing this data and how those resources can be reallocated to further understanding the system that they are investigating.

To see the results of the system that we have developed so far, follow this link

• What previously unanswerable questions could you answer if you could supplement the measurements you already have with a rapidly deployable, dense network of sensors, denser and with a higher resolution than you could have previously imagined to be affordable; which communicate with each other and maybe even optimise their own locations; and which wirelessly provide data online in seconds, even if there is no mobile phone coverage?

To answer these questions, we have been actively creating new sensors and wireless sensor networks and deploying them to solve real problems. To see the results of this, follow this link

• Could this very same technology not also be leveraged to educate the public on the vital questions that we are trying to understand?

SwissEx teamed up with GLOBE and several other collaborators to work on an education project. See the results here

A breakdown of SwissEx

The SwissEx technology platform aims to fulfill the vision above. The project runs until September 2012 and will undoubtedly continue in another form after this date. A more detailed description of the SwissEx concept and the roles of the partners behind it can be found here

The technology development is split into four parts:

• Software infrastructure: The advanced computing infrastructure components of SwissEx.
• Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs): New wireless sensor networks being developed under the SwissEx umbrella to ease the deployment and data retrieval process.
• New sensor technology: New sensor development, low power sensor variants and the application of new sensor technology in the alpine environment.
• Supporting infrastructure: The development of infrastructure hardware for sensor deployment.

The software components are available for public use and the sensor components are open for collaboration. In some cases the components are finished, commercially available products, whilst in other cases they are currently being developed as research projects.

The four parts are split into more detailed topics in the left-hand menu.