This document discusses how wireless technology interacts with agriculture and the environment in developing regions. It argues that wireless experts should care about these issues for several reasons. First, the telecom-energy nexus, as higher mobile costs are partly due to powering networks, and energy-climate, as greenhouse gas emissions affect climate. Second, climate impacts telecoms through rain fade and extreme events. Third, increasing demands on water, food, and energy require tackling their interconnections. The document then outlines how technologies like TV white spaces and wireless sensors can help monitor resources, raise climate awareness, and improve water and agricultural systems.

1. Wireless: interactions with agriculture &
environment in developing and emerging regions
Simone Sala
Researcher at Columbia University CICR, MIT-IBM NSRC, University of Milan DISAA
Practitioner in between the above
March 21, 2013
International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) – Trieste, Italy
School on Applications of Open Spectrum and White Spaces Technologies

2. Index
1. Why should we care about Agriculture and
Environment as Wireless people?
2. How can we tackle the Water-Energy-Food
(WEF) nexus?

3. Why should we care about Agriculture/Environment
as ICT people??
Driving forces & Technology right in the middle
MarketDemocracy
Sustainability
Local Global
Short-termLong-term
Technology

4. Why should we care about Agriculture/Environment
as ICT people??
Driving forces & Technology right in the middle
MarketDemocracy
Sustainability
Local Global
Short-termLong-term
Technology

5. Why should we care about Agriculture/Environment
as ICT people??
Driving forces & Technology right in the middle
MarketDemocracy
Sustainability
Local Global
Short-termLong-term
Technology
Everyone
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6. Why should we care about Agriculture/Environment
as ICT people??
Driving forces & Technology right in the middle
MarketDemocracy
Sustainability
Local Global
Short-termLong-term
Technology

7. Why should we care about Agriculture/Environment as ICT
people??
(1) Telecoms – Energy nexus

8. Why should we care about Agriculture/Environment as ICT
people??
(1) Telecoms – Energy nexus
• Higher mobile telecom costs in developing &
emerging regions…
 Partly due to > costs of power supply to
support continuity of service

9. Why should we care about Agriculture/Environment as ICT
people??
(2) Energy – Climate nexus
• Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions
primary cause of global warming
• Most of emissions comes from burning fossil
fuels
– Agriculture as a top contributor too

10. Why should we care about Agriculture/Environment as ICT
people??
(3) Climate – Telecoms nexus
• Precipitation (especially heavy rainfall) affect
satelite telecommunications
– Rain fade signal absorption by air moisture and by
wetness on antenna surfaces
• Extreme events affect mobile
telecommunications infrastructures

11. Why should we care about Agriculture/Environment as ICT
people??
(4) The whole WEF + climate nexus
Water
Climate
EnergyFood
• Increasing water, food & energy demand: +30/50% between 2010-2013
(World Economic Forum, 2011)

12. How can we tackle the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus?
TVWS & Energy/Climate
TVWS makes a difference in terms of:
• Power consumption: low input & output power
– Works at low frequencies compared to other wireless
networks
– Emerging TVWS protocols tend to minimize protocol
overhead (hence > energy efficiency!)
• Weather susceptibility
– TVWS is not affected by moisture in the air and by
wetness on antenna surfaces

13. How can we tackle the WEF nexus?
Finding Wireless’ place
Record data
and information
Transform data and information
into knowledge
Broadcast &
Communicate
Information and
Knowledge
Observation Analysis &
Strategic Planning
Implementation
&
Management
Capacity
Building &
Networking
Wireless can help

14. How can we tackle the WEF nexus?
Wireless & climate change
Wireless can be a catalyzer for:
• Awareness raising on global/local climate issues
– Dissemination of climate change awareness messages via low/high tech
• Monitoring of climate parameters and natural resources
– Smartphone, sensors, remote sensing integration as a two-way channel for
monitoring
• Climate change Mitigation
– Track impact of carbon sequestration initiatives
• Adaptation to climate change
– Dissemination of short-term information, knowledge sharing

15. How can we tackle the WEF nexus?
Wireless & improved water distribution systems
• IXEM Lab’s Water Mole
– Goal: recognize pipe damages or fluid leakages
– Strategy: A wireless sensor measures liquid pressure
over time/frequency through a distribution network
http://www.ixem.polito.it/

16. How can we tackle the WEF nexus?
Wireless & improved agri-food systems
• Many applications!
Greenhouse control
Animal feed control
Precision Farming
Weather
Agro-ecological
Monitoring
Wireless
Traceability
Food packaging
Animal/crop identification
Transportation

17. How can we tackle the WEF nexus?
Wireless & improved agri-food systems
• Pest monitoring & traceability system in
Jamaica (Caribbean Agricultural Research and
Development Institute, CARDI)
• Problem: fall of hot pepper exports to US
because of pests (20M$/year, 50'000 workers)
• Solution: GPS-powered map of
producers, provision of
inspectors w/ portable devices
to monitor production and
track pest outbreaks
http://goo.gl/t2L5OF

18. Thank you!
Simone Sala
• Web: www.simonesala.it
• Twitter: @hereissimone
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, revisited