Evaluating Energy and Sizing of Electronic System For Environmental Monitoring In Madagascar Forest

Deforestation poses a grave threat to biodiversity, resulting in substantial disruptions within forest ecosystems and impacting the plant and animal species inhabiting them. To address this imminent peril and safeguard our environment, government authorities collaborate closely with organizations dedicated to managing protected areas. Among these entities, Madagascar National Parks Association holds a prominent role in overseeing the national parks of Madagascar. In 2017, an inventive initiative was launched to monitor the Montagne d'Ambre forest, leveraging technological advancements in the fields of computing and electronics. This pioneering approach relies on a system that detects tree felling through the analysis of acoustic signals. The section pertaining to data processing has been successfully concluded. This present article emphasizes the material aspects of the study, with the primary goal of identifying solutions that best suit the site and its constraints. The central aim is to minimize energy consumption by optimizing the system's activation time while ensuring effective surveillance. The article provides a comparison of the system's energy consumption before and after optimization, highlighting the beneficial outcomes of this approach. Subsequently, an analysis of energy supply was undertaken. The challenges posed by shading from the forest on the solar panel are examined, resulting in a decrease in efficiency to 43% when compared to direct sunlight exposure. Consequently, this situation led to the determination of the appropriate solar panel power rating at 23 Wpeak and the battery capacity at 13.33 Ah, operating at 12 V to meet a daily consumption of 2.8 Ah, with a 4.76-day usage margin in the absence of sunlight. This article thus furnishes a comprehensive overview of the innovative monitoring techniques applied to the Montagne d'Ambre forest, highlighting the endeavors aimed at reducing energy consumption and overcoming challenges related to energy provisioning. These advancements hold considerable significance for the preservation of Madagascar's biodiversity and the protection of our delicate ecosystems.