A Monitoring and Rescuing System Using Next Generation Mobile, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence for Freshwater Lakes in Africa

Abstract

In this paper an experimental system assisted by emerging digital technologies is developed, for monitoring and controlling invasive water hyacinth weed and rescue operation of freshwater lakes in Africa. The system is designed to integrate fifth generation ultra-reliable low latency communication (5G URLLC), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), underwater robots, smart environmental sensing with internet of things (IoT) and machine learning techniques for real time monitoring, managing, controlling and predicting the expansion of invasive water hyacinth weed. The experimental system for sensor data collection implemented on lake Tana in Ethiopia will be expanded to other fresh water lakes of Africa affected by water hyacinth weed. System modeling and data analytics based on sensor data will be performed to generate decision inference for controlling the growth of water hyacinth in the water bodies of the lake. Environmental data collection from other local sources will be integrated with sensor data for further system modeling and critical action analysis and implementation using machine learning algorithms to remove the main causes for the rapid expansion of water hyacinth throughout the lake.