Spatial, Temporal and Environmental Effects on LoRa Link Characteristics: Evidence from a Sustainable Sensor Network in London
Conference
Ma, D, Chen, H, De Jode, M et al. (2026). Spatial, Temporal and Environmental Effects on LoRa Link Characteristics: Evidence from a Sustainable Sensor Network in London
. 613-620. 10.1109/DCOSS-IoT69657.2026.00100
Ma, D, Chen, H, De Jode, M et al. (2026). Spatial, Temporal and Environmental Effects on LoRa Link Characteristics: Evidence from a Sustainable Sensor Network in London
. 613-620. 10.1109/DCOSS-IoT69657.2026.00100
LoRa/LoRaWAN has been increasingly adopted in urban outdoor sensor networks, yet its long-term communication performance in complex urban environments remains under-documented. This paper presents a one-year empirical evaluation of LoRaWAN link performance using 15 solar-powered sensors deployed in London, examining how distance, land cover, air temperature, humidity, season, and time of day affect received signal strength indicator (RSSI), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), spreading factor (SF) under Adaptive Data Rate (ADR), and packet loss rate (PLR). Results show that transmission distance is the dominant factor of RSSI and SNR variations, while land cover and diurnal variation in the local environment also contributed to site-specific differences in link quality. Temperature, humidity, and season show weak or negligible associations. Higher ADR-assigned SF values are generally observed under weaker links, although elevated PLR at one site indicates the need for improved SF selection algorithms in complex urban conditions. Overall low PLR confirms the effectiveness of LoRa/LoRaWAN system for urban environmental data collection, with findings provide field evidence to inform the design of future urban sensing systems.
