Data Collection Platform Design using LEO Satellite-based LoRa for Disaster Management in Indonesia

Indonesia’s geographical location renders it vulnerable to various natural disasters, including landslides, earthquakes, floods, and tsunamis. While terrestrial sensors have been deployed in multiple provinces to address these challenges, data collection remains a significant obstacle, particularly in remote and inaccessible areas. Communication emerges as a primary concern, hampering the effectiveness of the deployed sensors. Hence, integrating satellite technology, particularly Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, becomes of utmost importance in disaster monitoring, early warning, and mitigation. This paper aims to propose a LoRa-based data collection platform for LEO satellite communication to boost disaster management efforts in Indonesia. The proposed platform incorporates communication architecture design, uplink budget calculation from the modified LoRa terminal to the satellite, and power measurement of the terminal. The link budget calculation of the modified LoRa terminal is presented with several spreading factors assessed within satellite elevation variations from $0^{\mathrm{o}}$ to 90°. The calculation shows that the higher the spreading factor is, the lower the minimum satellite elevation required for communication, up to 0° for spreading factor 11. The RF output power of the modified LoRa terminal is measured to validate the link budget, resulting in a power of 33.13 dB, which complies with link budget requirements for satellite-based LoRa.