Model-Based Event Detection in Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper we present an application of techniques from statistical signal processing to the problem of event detection in wireless sensor networks used for environmental monitoring. The proposed approach uses the well-established Principal Component Analysis (PCA) technique to build a compact model of the observed phenomena that is able to capture daily and seasonal trends in the collected measurements. We then use the divergence between actual measurements and model predictions to detect the existence of discrete events within the collected data streams. Our preliminary results show that this event detection mechanism is sensitive enough to detect the onset of rain events using the temperature modality of a wireless sensor network.