Ubiquitous grid resource monitoring

In any wide-area distributed system there is a need to communicate and interact with a range of networked devices and services ranging from computer-based ones (CPU, memory and disk), to network components (hubs, routers, gateways) and specialised data sources (embedded devices, sensors, data-feeds). In order for the ensemble of underlying technologies to provide an environment suitable for virtual organisations to flourish, the resources that comprise the fabric of the Grid must be monitored in a seamless manner that abstracts away from the underlying complexity. Furthermore, as various competing Grid middleware offerings are released and evolve, an independent overarching monitoring service should act as a corner stone that ties these systems together. GridRM is a standards-based approach that is independent of any given middleware and that can utilise legacy and emerging resource-monitoring technologies. The main objective of the project is to produce a standardised and extensible architecture that provides seamless mechanisms to interact with native monitoring agents across heterogeneous resources.

GridRM: a resource monitoring architecture for the grid

Monitoring resources is an important aspect of the overall efficient usage and control of any distributed system. In this paper, we describe a generic open-source resource monitoring architecture that has been specifically designed for the Grid. The paper consists of three main sections. In the first section, we outline our motivation and briefly detail similar work in the area. In the second section, we describe the general monitoring architecture and its components. In the final section of the paper, we summarise the experiences so far and outline our future work.

Performance of a BP c-Si building Integrated PV system after 15years of installation

In this study, the performance, yield and characteristics of a 15 year old photovoltaic system installation has been investigated. The technology, BP Saturn modules which were steel-blue polycrystalline silicon cells are no longer in production. A bespoke monitoring system was designed and purpose built to monitor the characteristics of 6 strings, of 18 modules connected in series. The total output of the system is configured to 6.5kWp (series to parallel configuration). The PV system is demonstrating system outputs to be inferior by 0.7% per year. However,efficiency values in comparison to standard test conditions have remained practically the same. This output though very relevant to the possible performance and stability of aging cells, requires additional parametric studies to develop a more robust argument. The result presented in this paper is part of an on going investigation into PV system aging effects.

Assessing the performance of a building integrated BP c-Si PV system

In this study, the performance, yield and characteristics of a 16 year old photovoltaic (PV) system installation have been investigated. The technology, BP Saturn modules which were steel-blue polycrystalline silicon cells are no longer in production. A bespoke monitoring system has been designed to monitor the characteristics of 6 refurbished strings, of 18 modules connected in series. The total output of the system is configured to 6.5 kWp (series to parallel configuration). In addition to experimental results, the performance ratio (PR) of known values was simulated using PVSyst, a simulation software package. From calculations using experimental values, the PV system showed approximately 10% inferior power outputs to what would have been expected as standard test conditions. However, efficiency values in comparison to standard test conditions and the performance ratio (w75% from PVSyst simulations) over the past decade have remained practically the same. This output though very relevant to the possible performance and stability of aging cells, requires additional parametric studies to develop a more robust argument. The result presented in this paper is part of an on-going investigation into PV system aging effects.

Case study on the maintenance of a construction monitoring using USN-based data acquisition

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the adoption of emerging ubiquitous sensor network (USN) technologies for instrumentation within a variety of sustainability systems. USN is emerging as a sensing paradigm that is being newly considered by the sustainability management field as an alternative to traditional tethered monitoring systems. Researchers have been discovering that USN is an exciting technology that should not be viewed simply as a substitute for traditional tethered monitoring systems. In this study, we investigate how a movement monitoring measurement system of a complex building is developed as a research environment for USN and related decision-supportive technologies. To address the apparent danger of building movement, agent-mediated communication concepts have been designed to autonomously manage large volumes of exchanged information. In this study, we additionally detail the design of the proposed system, including its principles, data processing algorithms, system architecture, and user interface specifics. Results of the test and case study demonstrate the effectiveness of the USN-based data acquisition system for real-time monitoring of movement operations.

Obstacle avoidance routing scheme through optimal sink movement for home monitoring and mobile robotic consumer devices

In recent years, ZigBee has been proven to be an excellent solution to create scalable and flexible home automation networks. In a home automation network, consumer devices typically collect data from a home monitoring environment and then transmit the data to an end user through multi-hop communication without the need for any human intervention. However, due to the presence of typical obstacles in a home environment, error-free reception may not be possible, particularly for power constrained devices. A mobile sink based data transmission scheme can be one solution but obstacles create significant complexities for the sink movement path determination process. Therefore, an obstacle avoidance data routing scheme is of vital importance to the design of an efficient home automation system. This paper presents a mobile sink based obstacle avoidance routing scheme for a home monitoring system. The mobile sink collects data by traversing through the obstacle avoidance path. Through ZigBee based hardware implementation and verification, the proposed scheme successfully transmits data through the obstacle avoidance path to improve network performance in terms of life span, energy consumption and reliability. The application of this work can be applied to a wide range of intelligent pervasive consumer products and services including robotic vacuum cleaners and personal security robots1.

High-frequency water quality monitoring in an urban catchment: hydrochemical dynamics, primary production and implications for the Water Framework Directive

This paper describes the hydrochemistry of a lowland, urbanised river-system, The Cut in England, using in situ sub-daily sampling. The Cut receives effluent discharges from four major sewage treatment works serving around 190,000 people. These discharges consist largely of treated water, originally abstracted from the River Thames and returned via the water supply network, substantially increasing the natural flow. The hourly water quality data were supplemented by weekly manual sampling with laboratory analysis to check the hourly data and measure further determinands. Mean phosphorus and nitrate concentrations were very high, breaching standards set by EU legislation. Though 56% of the catchment area is agricultural, the hydrochemical dynamics were significantly impacted by effluent discharges which accounted for approximately 50% of the annual P catchment input loads and, on average, 59% of river flow at the monitoring point. Diurnal dissolved oxygen data demonstrated high in-stream productivity. From a comparison of high frequency and conventional monitoring data, it is inferred that much of the primary production was dominated by benthic algae, largely diatoms. Despite the high productivity and nutrient concentrations, the river water did not become anoxic and major phytoplankton blooms were not observed. The strong diurnal and annual variation observed showed that assessments of water quality made under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) are sensitive to the time and season of sampling. It is recommended that specific sampling time windows be specified for each determinand, and that WFD targets should be applied in combination to help identify periods of greatest ecological risk. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Review of monitoring tools for e-learning platforms

The advancement of e-learning technologies has made it viable for developments in education and technology to be combined in order to fulfil educational needs worldwide. E-learning consists of informal learning approaches and emerging technologies to support the delivery of learning skills, materials, collaboration and knowledge sharing. E-learning is a holistic approach that covers a wide range of courses, technologies and infrastructures to provide an effective learning environment. The Learning Management System (LMS) is the core of the entire e-learning process along with technology, content, and services. This paper investigates the role of model-driven personalisation support modalities in providing enhanced levels of learning and trusted assimilation in an e-learning delivery context. We present an analysis of the impact of an integrated learning path that an e-learning system may employ to track activities and evaluate the performance of learners.

Trust in authorities monitoring the distribution of genetically modified foods: dimensionality, measurement issues, and determinants

Based on a combined internet and mail survey in Germany the independence of indica-tors of trust in public authorities from indicators of attitudes toward genetically modified food is tested. Despite evidence of a link between trust indicators on the one hand and evaluation of benefits and perceived likelihoods of risks, correlation with other factors is found to be moderate on average. But the trust indicators exhibit only a moderate relation with the re-spondents’ preference for either sole public control or a cooperation of public and private bodies in the monitoring of GM food distribution. Instead, age and location in either the New or the Old Lander are found to be significantly related with such preferences.

Science for Humanitarian Emergencies and Resilience (SHEAR) scoping study: Annex 3 - Early warning system and risk assessment case studies

This report provides case studies of Early Warning Systems (EWSs) and risk assessments encompassing three main hazard types: drought; flood and cyclone. The case studies are taken from ten countries across three continents (focusing on Africa, South Asia and the Caribbean). The case studies have been developed to assist the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to prioritise areas for Early Warning System (EWS) related research under their ‘Science for Humanitarian Emergencies and Resilience’ (SHEAR) programme. The aim of these case studies is to ensure that DFID SHEAR research is informed by the views of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and communities engaged with Early Warning Systems and risk assessments (including community-based Early Warning Systems). The case studies highlight a number of challenges facing Early Warning Systems (EWSs). These challenges relate to financing; integration; responsibilities; community interpretation; politics; dissemination; accuracy; capacity and focus. The case studies summarise a number of priority areas for EWS related research: • Priority 1: Contextualising and localising early warning information • Priority 2: Climate proofing current EWSs • Priority 3: How best to sustain effective EWSs between hazard events? • Priority 4: Optimising the dissemination of risk and warning information • Priority 5: Governance and financing of EWSs • Priority 6: How to support EWSs under challenging circumstances • Priority 7: Improving EWSs through monitoring and evaluating the impact and effectiveness of those systems

Wireless energy behaviour monitoring (Wi-be) for office buildings

This paper presents a study on reduction of energy consumption in buildings through behaviour change informed by wireless monitoring systems for energy, environmental conditions and people positions. A key part to the Wi-Be system is the ability to accurately attribute energy usage behaviour to individuals, so they can be targeted with specific feedback tailored to their preferences. The use of wireless technologies for indoor positioning was investigated to ascertain the difficulties in deployment and potential benefits. The research to date has demonstrated the effectiveness of highly disaggregated personal-level data for developing insights into people’s energy behaviour and identifying significant energy saving opportunities (up to 77% in specific areas). Behavioural research addressed social issues such as privacy, which could affect the deployment of the system. Radio-frequency research into less intrusive technologies indicates that received-signal-strength-indicator-based systems should be able to detect the presence of a human body, though further work would be needed in both social and engineering areas.

Optimising mirid control on cocoa farms through complementary monitoring systems

Mirids (Sahlbergella singularis and Distantiella theobroma) are the most important insect pests affecting cocoa production across West Africa. Understanding the population dynamics of mirids is key to their management, however, the current recommended hand-height assessment method is labour intensive. The objective of the study was to compare recently developed mirid sex pheromone trapping and visual hand-height assessment methods as monitoring tools on cocoa farms and to consider implications for a decision support system. Ten farms from the Eastern and Ashanti regions of Ghana were used for the study. Mirid numbers and damage were assessed fortnightly on twenty trees per farm, using both methods, from January 2012 to April 2013. The mirid population increased rapidly in June, reached a peak in September and began to decline in October. There was a significant linear relationship between numbers of mirids sampled to hand-height and mirid damage. High numbers of male mirids were recorded in pheromone traps between January and April 2012 after which there was a gradual decline. There was a significant inverse relationship between numbers of trapped adult mirids and mirids sampled to hand-height (predominantly nymphs). Higher temperatures and lower relative humidities in the first half of the year were associated with fewer mirids at hand-height but larger numbers of adult males were caught in pheromone traps. The study showed that relying solely on one method is not sufficient to provide accurate information on mirid population dynamics and a combination of the two methods is necessary.