IoT System for Forest Monitoring
Alina-Elena Marcu2, George Suciu1, Elena Olteanu1, Delia Miu1, Alexandru Drosu1, Ioana Marcu2
1
R&D Department, BEIA Consult International, Bucharest, Romania
2
Electronics, Telecommunication and Information Technology Faculty, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
{george, elena.olteanu, delia.miu, alex.drosu}@beia.ro, {alina.marcu, ioana.marcu}@upb.ro
Abstract—Several important issues are affecting the forest
environment due to deforestation and natural disasters (for
example forest fires, or increased gas emissions). This paper
proposes an intelligent forest environment monitoring solution
based on the Raspberry Pi Model 3, analogical and digital
sensors and signals analysis algorithms. Parameters such as
temperature, gas concentrations, soil humidity etc. are monitored
with sensors while background sounds are analyzed with a
classification algorithm on the basis of which the generated event
can be classified into one of the following categories: Chainsaw,
Vehicle, or Forest background noise. The user’s accessibility to
the collected data is ensured via Internet and a mobile
applications that allows the user to receive notifications,
whenever fire, pollution sources, or illegal deforestation are
detected. The SeaForest environment monitoring solution is an
IoT project, addressed to public and private forest owners as well
as to national environmental and disaster response authorities.
Keywords—Deforestation, Disasters, IoT, Mobile Application,
Raspberry Pi, Sensors, Signal analysis.
I. INTRODUCTION
Over the last two decades, illegal deforestation in Romania
increased dramatically. A Greenpeace study [1] approximates
that more than 500000 hm2 of land have been illegally
deforested since the year 2000. At a national level, the area
covered by forest fell dramatically reaching 28.95% [2], way
below the EU average of 32.4% [3] and far more below the
optimum and possible capacity of 45% [4]. Although Romania
is facing huge illegal deforestation, this issue is still very
present in other EU countries.
Natural disasters are other crucial factors taken into
consideration throughout this paper. In the summer of 2018,
more than 100 people died and 3 resorts were completely
devastated in the Greek Attica peninsula by forest fires [5].
However, a faster detection of such events can be achieved by
using the latest technology advancements.
Nowadays, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are critical
components of the increasingly common IoT (Internet of
Things) systems. Such systems have a large applicability, and
the environmental monitoring field can also benefit from their
innovation.
The purpose of the IoT concept is to transform the real
world and every day electronic devices, appliances, etc., into
intelligent interconnected virtual objects. By keeping the user
informed on the state of things and giving the users control of
things, a better global humans-devices-humans communication
can be achieved [6].
Acknowledgment - This paper has been supported in part by UEFISCDI
Romania and MCI through projects SeaForest, CitiSim and WINS@HI, by
SmartAgro project subsidiary contract no. 8592/08.05.2018, from the NETIO
project ID:P_40_270, MySmis Code: 105976 and funded in part by European
Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant
agreement No. 777996 (SealedGRID project) and No. 787002 (SAFECARE
project).
978-1-7281-1864-2/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE
The SeaForest monitoring system has been developed to
provide a monitoring and communication solution for forest
protection. Each SeaForest unit is built with a series of sensors
that monitor environmental parameters, a processing unit, and a
protective case. Data acquired by the system, and subsequently
processed, is sent to a dedicated server. Using a desktop, laptop
or smartphone devices, the user is informed in real-time about
the possible occurrence of dangerous events that may have a
harmful effect on the environment. An artificial intelligence
component was developed to identify the noises specific to
potential illegal deforestation, and to classify the received
noises in three classes: chainsaw, vehicle and forest noise. The
same artificial intelligence component can be trained and
configured to identify other types of hazards, such as landslide-
specific sounds. To alert the user in the event of fire,
deforestation, or technical issues related to the drive, an
Android notification application has been developed.
Section 2 presents a research of similar projects, while in
Section 3 the proposed system is described. In Section 4, the
fire and deforestation detection methods and results are
presented, while Section 5 draws the conclusions and envisions
future work.
II. RELATED WORK
Early detection is the safest way to protect forests against
the threats posed by fires or deforestation. In this aspect,
infrared thermal cameras, Lidar sensors and SAR (Synthetic)
devices have been proposed and implemented at a global level
Aperture Radar [7]. An early detection and surface fire
detection system based on a Radio Acoustic Sounding System
(RAAS) is presented. An increasingly popular technology is
based on Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). In [8] the authors,
have proposed a wireless sensor network to prevent illegal
deforestation by using acoustic signal evaluation and network
node communication principles. The main objectives were the
low energy consumption and the reliability of the system. The
disadvantage of this approach is that the solution has been
studied at the conceptual level, not being implemented and
tested under real operating conditions [9].
"Forest Guardian" [10] is a system that detects the sound
produced by deforestation activities using acoustic signal
evaluation and network node communication principles. This
system has brought improvements such as permanent
monitoring of critical forest areas and rapid response to
deforestation activities at a theoretical level. The proposed
system architecture is a modular one, which means that system
functionality can be extended by adding new modules
(scalability). A set of sensors is used to record environmental
sounds. In the case of detection of deforestation activities in the
629 TSP 2019
monitored area, Forest Guardian instantly sends a notification
(e-mail, SMS, etc.) to those responsible so that they can
intervene to stop the illegal deforestation. All areas in danger
can be accessed on a map via a web application.
Rainforest Connection (RFCx) [11] is a Forest Guardian
implementation that uses mobile phones as network nodes and
solar panels to charge the battery. The nodes are individually
mounted on the shafts and their position is set to allow their
superposition for detection and communication purposes.
In [12] a method to identify areas suspected of forest fires
occurrence is proposed. This kind of forest disaster is a non-
linear problem that is difficult to assess and predict. The
proposed method uses artificial intelligence, namely the neuro-
fuzzy interface, for classification in two classes, forest fire and
non-fire. Furthermore, cloud computing can be used for
processing time critical data [13].
A forest fire detection system is also described in [14]. The
proposed system consists of a processing unit (Raspberry Pi)
and three sensors: motion sensor, temperature sensor, and a gas
sensor. The motion sensor is used to prevent the destruction of
the system from wildlife. The two environmental sensors
(temperature and gas sensors) are configured to detect
temperature value and gas concentration.
One of the critical issues in the current IoT world is the
security of devices, either wired or wireless. Considering the
wide range of protocols, high device count, and low number of
universal, standard methods, attackers can easily easy steal
users’ information, disrupt the devices functionality or perform
other user-threatening activities. In [15], the authors describe
security risks in WSNs, develop an attacking scenario and also
implement the attack a small WSN. Their results include an
analysis of parameters such as packet loss and packet
transmission delay.
On the other hand, in [16] it is described how security in
IoT can be managed using cryptographic operations. For
implementation, an MSP430 ultra-low power microcontroller
is used, proving that security issues can be managed with
limited resources in terms of time and memory. This is a step
further in protecting the IoT and WSN concepts since they may
rely on such low-power, low-resources devices.
III. PROPOSED SYSTEM
The general architecture of the proposed system is
illustrated in Fig. 1. Previous work has been presented about
sound recognition [17], low-power IoT devices for measuring
environmental values [18] and remote sensing for forest
environment preservation [19].
Fig. 1. General architecture of the system
630
MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) was
chosen as a communication protocol between each system unit,
back-end component and the end-user devices mainly due to its
open-source characteristic, Subscribe and Publish type of
service, minimum resource usage and minimum and easy-to-
use code. All of these characteristics are ideal for a device
operating in environments with constraints such as IoT, and
M2M (Machine-to-machine)
Each SeaForest unit consists of analogical and digital
sensors, a Raspberry Pi Model 3 B+, an analog-to-digital
converter, a small USB microphone, a 4G/3G USB Wi-Fi
dongle and an IP 66 protective case. Depending on the user’s
needs and requests, sensors can be added or removed from
each configuration (still limited to a base one), thus granting a
high modularity degree to each unit. The ABS case protects
electronic devices from harsh environmental conditions. The
device is completely dust/dirt resistant and can withstand water
in heavy quantities or water projected in powerful jets.
However, it was necessary to allow certain sensors and wires to
communicate with the exterior. Minor cuts in the rubber areas
of the case and the use of weather-proof adhesive keep the IP
66 certification available. The exterior sensors are also
weather-proof (DS18B water-resistant temperature sensor,
SEN-13322 Soil Moisture Sensor with PCB coating and gold
plaiting). Fig. 2 presents the basic prototype of a SeaForest
unit.
Fig. 2. Prototype of a SeaForest unit
A specific broker that is implemented on one of the
company's servers was used to develop the notification mode.
To achieve the desired functionality, and also for security and
debugging reasons, it was decided that each SeaForest unit
would have a dedicated MQTT topic. Thus, if a deforesting or
fire event is detected, the SeaForest device near the event will
send a message to its dedicated MQTT topic. The user will
have access to an MQTT client that is subscribed to the same
topic that the SeaForest specified unit has issued the message.
By using different topics for each SeaForest unit, the user will
know exactly which unit (when there are multiple units
involved) has detected a hazard or service needs.
Depending on the system on which it is running, several
MQTT client applications / programs can be used. If the
operating system is Linux or Windows, the user can use the
MQTT Spy. Since the notification mode is primarily intended
for smartphone notifications (a user will not periodically check
the MQTT topic via a laptop / desktop – the essence of the
notifying idea would be lost), it was considered mandatory to
develop an MQTT client-type Android application, specially
designed and optimized for SeaForest users.
In order to simplify as much as possible the actions that the
user must perform to receive the correct notifications, (in order
for the application to get closer to the Plug & Play concept),
setting up the connection to the corresponding MQTT broker is
already done in the back-end of the application). The only
actions to be taken by the user are the confirmation of the
connection to the broker, the input of the correct topic (which Fig. 4. Temperature evolution in Grafana
was privately communicated by the company – similar to a
password) and the subscription to the respective topic. IV. FIRE AND DEFORESTATION DETECTION
Once the application is open, and the broker and the topic All the on-unit software for SeaForest units was developed
are confirmed by the user, the application can be minimized. It in Python 3. All the Python programs were configured to run at
is important to note that the application's task should not be start-up using the Supervisor software.
ended, in order for the notification module to work Fire detection is obtained by correlating an increase of the
permanently. SeaForest app needs to be among the minimized CO gas concentration with an increase of the temperature. The
background applications running on the user's smartphone. If detection event is generated when certain thresholds are
this condition is met and the smartphone screen is off, the user reached.
will also receive visual and hearing notifications. The
In terms of sound recognition, it was important for the user
SeaForest application is available in Google Play Store.
to obtain a clear answer from the system – the monitored area
Screen-captures with the application are available in Fig. 3. is affected or not, by illegal deforestation. Therefore, this paper
Several messages that were received on the device’s topic can only focuses on chainsaw sound analysis, as the other two
be observed. The functionality of the MQTT protocol (and categories (vehicle or forest noise) are irrelevant in this specific
also of the mobile application) was tested by inputting application.
messages on the specific topic. The application correctly In Fig. 5, a signal from the chainsaw is represented.
responded and displayed those messages which simulated Amplitude is plotted against time. Signals produced by several
potential real situations like forest fire, deforestation or factors that may be encountered in the forest environment were
technical issues (impossibility of sensor reading). analyzed to see if they differ or not.

Fig. 5. Chainsaw signal

In order to recognize the sounds produced by chainsaws,

we must extract the specific features of these sounds. By
analyzing what can be used, it was concluded that MFCCs
(mel-frequency spectrum) are most used for such sounds. Melt-
ceptic coefficients are a perceptual representation of the signal
Fig. 3. SeaForest application screen-captures characterized by a non-linear scale of perceived frequency and
by a number of critical frequency bands. The MFCC dynamic
Also, Fig. 3 presents a SeaForest notification on a Huwei vectors attached to these are delta and double-delta coefficients
P10 Lite smartphone. The application was tested on several of the same size as the spline vectors (n represents the number
smartphone models (Samsung Galaxy A6, S7, S7 Edge, S8, of axes on which the MFCC coefficients are represented). In a
Huawei P20 Pro, with different resolutions and screen types. characteristic space of this dimension, a good separation of the
This way it was assured the application correctly displayed coefficients according to their type can be achieved. The
messages, buttons, with no overlapping or other issues. classification based on SVM (support-vector machines) is
described in Fig. 6.
The user can also visualize the evolution of certain
parameters (for example temperature) over a specific time
interval. This is achieved through the same MQTT broker,
InfluxDB and Grafana. An example of data visualization can
be observed in Fig. 4. Fig. 6. MFCC extraction block schema

631
 SVM is among the most effective learning algorithms, both devices; implementing more efficient classification algorithms;
in terms of performance and resolution of large-sized spaces developing an application for iOS.
due to optimizations using kernels [20]. Following the SVM REFERENCES
classifications, the results from the table below were obtained. [1] Illegal deforesting report Romania
The table shows the results for 10 consecutive iterations. https://.greenpeace.org/romania/Global/romania/paduri/raport-taieri-
ilegale-2016.pdf , accessed 15 February 2019.
Experimental results are rendered by Accuracy, Accuracy and
[2] National Forest Inventory Romania 2008-2012
Truth Rate (TPR). http://roifn.ro/site/rezultate-ifn-1/ accessed 15 February 2019.
തതതതത
…… - represents the accuracy for each measurement (1) [3] Forest resources in the EU and the EU Forest Strategy
Acc - represents the average accuracy and is computed https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/forest_en , accessed 15 February 2019.
using (table 1) [4] V. Giurgiu, “Consideraii asupra strii pdurilor României – partea I:
declinul suprafeei pdurilor i marginalizarea împduririlor”, Revista
Std – represents the standard mean deviation, its calculation Pdurilor, nr. 2/2010
is made with (2) [5] "Greece wildfires: Dozens dead in Attica region". BBC. 24 July 2018.
TRP – the truth rate is the one describing how many [6] S. Madakam, R. Ramaswamy and S. Tripathi, “Internet of Things (IoT):
chainsaw sounds have been recognized from the total number, A Literature Review,” Journal of Computer and Communications, 2015,
3, pp. 164-173 Science, 2011
the calculation of this report is made using (3).
[7] J.L. Dupuy, P. Vachet, J. Marechal, J. Melendez, A.J., de Castro,
ଵ
തതതതത
‫ ܿܿܣ‬ൌ σଵ଴
௜ୀଵ ‫ܿܿܣ‬௜ (1) “Thermal infrared emission–transmission measurements in flames from
ଵ଴ a cylindrical forest fuel burner”, International Journal of Wildland Fire,
16 (3), pp. 324–340, 2007.
ଵ
ܵ‫ ݀ݐ‬ൌ  ටσଵ଴
௜ୀଵ ሺ‫ܿܿܣ‬௜ െ തതതതത
‫ ܿܿܣ‬ሻଶ (2) [8] D. Riaño, E. Chuvieco, S.L. Ustin, J. Salas, J.R. Rodríguez-Pérez, L.M.
ଵ଴ Ribeiro, D.X. Viegas, J.M. Moreno, H. Fernández, “Estimation of shrub
ே௨௠௕௘௥௢௙௖௛௔௜௡௦௔௪௦௙௢௨௡ௗ height for fuel-type mapping combining airborne LiDAR and
ܴܶܲ ൌ (3) simultaneous color infrared ortho imaging”, International Journal of
்௢௧௔௟௡௨௠௕௘௥௢௙௖௛௔௜௡௦௔௪௦
Wildland Fire, 16 (3), pp. 341–348, 2007
Table 1 shows the experimental results achieved. [9] Y.G Sahin, T. Ince, “Early Forest Fire Detection Using Radio-Acoustic
Sounding System”, Sensors, pp 1485-1498, 2009.
Table 1. Experimental results
[10] J. Papán, M. Jurecka, J. Púchyová, “WSN for Forest Monitoring to
Measurement Acc [%] TPR Prevent Illegal Logging”, Proceedings of the Federated Cinference on
1 93.75 3/4 Computer Science and Information Systems, pp. 809-812, 2012.
2 81.25 2/4 [11] RAINFOREST CONNECTION: Saving rainforests
3 87.5 2/4 https://rfcx.org/our_work.html, accessed 15 February 2019
4 100 4/4 [12] H. Zhou, et al. "Dynamic Real-Time Infrastructure Planning and
5 93.75 4/4 Deployment for Disaster Early Warning Systems." In International
6 75 3/4 Conference on Computational Science, pp. 644-654, 2018
7 93.75 4/4
[13] D. T. Bui et al, “A hybrid artificial intelligence approach using GIS-
8 87.5 2/4 based neural-fuzzy inference system and particle swarm optimization for
9 93.75 4/4 forest fire susceptibility modeling at a tropical area”, Agricultural and
10 100 4/4 forest meteorology, 233, pp.32-44, 2017.
The most reduced accuracy was 75% (in one situation but [14] Arasvathi, Nahalingham and Chelsea, Ferdyanti Kosasih “Study and
the track recognition rate is 3/4), but a 100% accuracy (in Implementation of Internet of Things (IoT) Based Forest Fire
which case all sounds were recognized correctly) was also Automation System to Detect and Prevent Wildfire”. INTI Journal, 1
obtained, SVM being the most efficient classification. (15), pp. 1-5, 2018.
[15] I. Krivtsova et al. “Implementing a broadcast storm attack on a mission-
V. CONCLUSION critical wireless sensor network” In: International Conference on
Wired/Wireless Internet Communication, 2016. p. 297-308.
Most of the systems analyzed in Section 2 are either too
[16] O. Raso et al. “Implementation of elliptic curve diffie hellman in ultra-
expensive for an average user or are designed at a conceptual low power microcontroller” In: 2015 38th International Conference on
level with no actual physical implementation. Designing a vial Telecommunications and Signal Processing (TSP). pp. 662-666, 2015.
and practical smart system for forest monitoring proved to be [17] E. Olteanu, et al. "Forest Monitoring System Through Sound
challenging, as the system needed to be energy efficient, Recognition." In 2018 International Conference on Communications
weather-proofed, capable of withstanding harsh environmental (COMM), pp. 75-80. IEEE, 2018.
condition and able to communicate efficiently when placed in [18] G. Suciu, et al. "Low-Power IoT Devices for Measuring Environmental
remote areas. The constraints were solved or partially solved, Values." In 24th International Symposium for Design and Technology in
by using a low-power, IoT specific device (the Raspberry Pi 3), Electronic Packaging (SIITME), pp. 234-238., 2018.
a certificated enclosure, an IoT and M2M orientated [19] G. Suciu, et al. “Remote Sensing for Forest Environment Preservation”
WorldCIST, Recent Advances in Information Systems and
communication protocol (MQTT), specially designed
Technologies, pp. 211-220, 2017.
algorithms, Python programs, and Android applications. This
[20] A. Grivei, A. Rdoi, C. Vduva and M. Datcu, "An Active-Learning
prototype can be improved in many ways by adding a solar approach to the query by example retrieval in remote sensing images,"
panel, converter and battery; using a more rigid and higher IP International Conference on Communications (COMM), pp. 377-380,
certified enclosure; using more energy efficient electronic 2016.

632