note | 19.07.2024

Sensors make KLUGA

Adaptation to climate change through Internet of Things (IoT) sensors

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© Photo: bifa Umweltinstitut GmbH

Sensors have become an integral part of climate change adaptation research and their applications are diverse. For example, they are used on a larger scale to validate models as part of the identification of heat hotspots, to monitor water levels or to measure soil moisture for efficient irrigation management. 

Together with our partners from the University of Ulm and the Digital Agenda of the City of Ulm, bifa has identified and prototyped use cases for sensors in the context of climate change adaptation over the past two years as part of the KLUGA project funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection. The investigation focussed on the needs and interests of Ulm‘s civilian population.

Internet of Things (IoT) sensors
As a result, ten installed IoT sensors send small amounts of data several times a day to the city of Ulm‘s data hub via the LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide-Area Network) available in Ulm. The data is made freely available on a website that is clearly organised and enriched with important background information on a daily basis (https://citysens.app/p/kluga/). The target groups addressed include athletes, children and senior citizens. The aim is to raise awareness and adapt personal behaviour to climate change. 
In the long term, the data can help to document changes and monitor the effects of shading measures, for example. 

Sensors and LoRaWan easily explained