Development of Raspberry Pi-Based IoT Landslide Monitoring System

Abstract

During continuous intense rainstorms, rainfall infiltration, which decreases the shear strength of unsaturated soil slopes, and surface water runoff that erodes the slope surface, cause slope instability. During the monsoon season in South Korea, there is a higher risk of landslides and debris flow disasters in urban regions nearby a hill or mountains. Therefore, landslide monitoring systems have been developed for analyzing slope stability by tracking the groundwater level and surface erosion. Satellite and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have successfully proven their ability to monitor ground surface conditions. However, these remote sensing technologies are unusable during rain and cannot directly monitor subsurface conditions. Therefore, this study has developed a Raspberry Pi-based Internet of Things (IoT) landslide monitoring system to detect potential slope failure. The developed IoT-sensor module detects groundwater levels and measures volumetric water content with soil moisture sensors. The IoT can also capture visual data using a camera for further analysis. The applicability and feasibility of the developed monitoring system for real-time landslide monitoring were successfully demonstrated during a 1-D rainfall infiltration test and a debris-flow flume test. For the 1-D rainfall infiltration test, several vertically separated soil moisture sensors successfully tracked the change of the wetting front and the groundwater, which are critical for slope stability analysis. The developed IoT monitoring system is modular and low-cost; therefore, the installation process is simple, and each component can be cheaply replaced. Additionally, the small-sized IoT-sensor system can be stored in a small waterproof container when installed in the field.