Mekuanint Hailemichael, a colleague of Arba Minch University (senior network manager) has installed a LoRa gateway at a high building of the Nech Sar Campus of Arba Minch University. Installation of the gateway is part of our research project titled “Determining the feasibility and reliability of a do-it-yourself air quality sensor network in Arba Minch, Ethiopia.”.
We are planning to install and test multiple Arduino-based particulate matter (PM) sensor systems in Arba Minch. Apart from testing their operationality and data quality, we want to test the possibility of real-time online data through LoRa functionality. The sensor systems transmit small packets of data over a frequency of 868 MHz. A well-positioned gateway can receive this data and put it online. For this purpose, Mekuannint (co-investigator in the research project) has installed a Lorank-8 gateway together with antenna and lighting protection. It is connected to the Arba Minch University network.