Energy efficiency metrics for low-power near ground level wireless sensors

This paper proposes green energy efficiency metrics for low-power wireless sensors operating at ground level. The metrics are derived from our previous work on energy efficiency analysis for general wireless networks and a radio propagation model for near ground level wireless sensors. A numerical analysis is carried out to investigate the utilization of the green energy efficiency metrics for ground level communication in wireless sensor networks. The proposed metrics have been developed to calculate the optimal sensor deployment, antenna height and energy efficiency level for the near ground wireless sensor. As an application of the proposed metrics, the relationship between the energy efficiency and the spacing between the wireless sensor nodes is studied. The results provide an accurate guidance for energy efficient deployment of near ground level wireless sensors.