Opportunistic Rainfall Detection Using Microwave Backhaul Links of Regional ISPs

Opportunistic Rainfall Detection Using Microwave Backhaul Links of Regional ISPs

Stať ve sborníku v databázi WoS či Scopus

Commercial microwave links operated within regional Internet service provider networks generate continuous telemetry that can be reused for opportunistic environmental sensing. This paper presents the design and field deployment of a real-time microsystem that transforms operational back haul measurements into rainfall estimates. The solution targets heterogeneous point-to-point links in the 5–80 GHz range and integrates automated acquisition, preprocessing, storage, rainfall retrieval, and visualization into a single workflow. Telemetry is collected using the Simple Network Management Protocol and HTTP-based application programming interfaces and stored in InfluxDB, while the TelcoRain framework is used to convert path attenuation into rainfall intensity estimates. The presented deployment was validated on a small regional ISP network near Polná in the Vysočina region of the Czech Republic, containing 11 usable links from three vendors. Results confirm that the system is technically deployable in small ISP environments and can detect rainfall events in real time, but they also show that limited network density and wet-antenna effects reduce the reliability of area-wide precipitation mapping and absolute intensity estimation.

Commercial microwave links operated within regional Internet service provider networks generate continuous telemetry that can be reused for opportunistic environmental sensing. This paper presents the design and field deployment of a real-time microsystem that transforms operational back haul measurements into rainfall estimates. The solution targets heterogeneous point-to-point links in the 5–80 GHz range and integrates automated acquisition, preprocessing, storage, rainfall retrieval, and visualization into a single workflow. Telemetry is collected using the Simple Network Management Protocol and HTTP-based application programming interfaces and stored in InfluxDB, while the TelcoRain framework is used to convert path attenuation into rainfall intensity estimates. The presented deployment was validated on a small regional ISP network near Polná in the Vysočina region of the Czech Republic, containing 11 usable links from three vendors. Results confirm that the system is technically deployable in small ISP environments and can detect rainfall events in real time, but they also show that limited network density and wet-antenna effects reduce the reliability of area-wide precipitation mapping and absolute intensity estimation.

commercial microwave links, opportunistic sensing, rainfall monitoring, precipitation estimation, regional ISPs, backhaul telemetry, TelcoRain, InfluxDB

commercial microwave links, opportunistic sensing, rainfall monitoring, precipitation estimation, regional ISPs, backhaul telemetry, TelcoRain, InfluxDB

SMEJKAL, V.

28.04.2026

Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication

978-80-214-6418-6

Proceedings II of the 32nd Conference STUDENT EEICT 2026

21

23

3