New technology in town

On 2 June 2022, the team of Earth Observation Lab, headed by Prof. Dr. R. Becker, visited the Zechenturm in Zechenpark, Kamp-Lintfort. Officials from LINEG were also present for the tour inside the tower as part of the lab’s plan to install LoRaWAN gateways in the tower for public and university use.

Built for hard coal lugging, the tower stands at 66m height at the heart of the park. It was inaugurated on Christmas 1956 after the building was finished around a second green tower to support the mining activities. The operations at the tower came to a halt in 2012 when the mine was closed down to give way to Landshaftspark in Kamp-Lintfort.

Working in partnership with LINEG (Left Lower Rhine Drainage Cooperative), the lab is in first phase of installing antennas on the tower to collect sensor data for different projects. One of the projects with LINEG is to monitor water levels in the troughs left behind in the former mine site. Measurements were taken for the Long Range Wide Area Network having 4 antennas with 2 gateways to be installed.

The idea behind installing the LoRaWAN system is to provide a power efficient, long distance and public technology that is accessible to everyone in the town as well as for research use at the university. This will be a welcome step to the town for its scientific, educational and environmental growth.