Toward an environmental Internet of Things

The Internet of Things is a term which has emerged to describe the increase of Internet connectivity of everyday objects. While wireless sensor networks have developed highly energy efficient designs they need a step change in their interoperability and usability to become essential tools in the study of our environment. This paper shows how Internet of Things (IoT) can be seen as a natural evolution of environmental sensing systems. We discuss the different styles and examples of IoT systems and illustrate the key technical challenges ahead. We describe a future connected world and discuss the role of environmental and Earth science sensing, web, and Internet technologies.