Laboratory and Field Performance Assessment of LPWA Tilt Sensors for Slope Monitoring and Disaster Early Warning

Laboratory and Field Performance Assessment of LPWA Tilt Sensors for Slope Monitoring and Disaster Early Warning | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Laboratory and Field Performance Assessment of LPWA Tilt Sensors for Slope Monitoring and Disaster Early Warning Ryosuke Miyake, Tomoki Nakazora, Naoki Kinoshita, Hideaki Yasuhara This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9001528/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study evaluated the performance of tilt sensors equipped with Low-Power Wide-Area (LPWA) communication through controlled laboratory experiments and extensive field observations on natural slopes. Eight tilt sensors (A–H), varying in resolution, accuracy, installation type, and communication protocol, were examined. In the laboratory, a high-precision testing machine was used to apply precise tilt angles (0.0001º resolution, 0.0002º accuracy), enabling the quantitative assessment of each axis. Sensor accuracy was specifically evaluated using the 3σ (three-sigma) criterion as an index of noise, and Tilt Sensor A was found to exhibit the highest precision. Field observations at three sites in Japan assessed the influence of environmental factors, such as rainfall and temperature, on the tilt sensors' long-term stability. Composite tilt angles and inclination rates were derived from the data to quantify slope deformation. Buried Tilt sensors demonstrated high stability with minimal susceptibility to temperature effects, while above-ground tilt sensors with coarser resolution were more significantly affected by external conditions. At Site A, the tilt sensors successfully captured slope failure—from initial creep to accelerated deformation—demonstrating their effectiveness as early warning indicators. The observed relationship between the inclination rate and the remaining time to failure was consistent with previous findings. Crucially, a strong correlation was found between the catalog-specified accuracy and the field-observed noise level, indicating that tilt sensor accuracy reliably predicts field stability. These results provide essential, practical insights for the selection and operation of tilt sensors in slope monitoring and early warning systems. LPWA Tilt sensor Slope monitoring Landslide prediction Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SupplementaryInformationLPWApaper.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9001528","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":601404604,"identity":"d23efe2a-a229-4d95-bb8e-d1df6fb2753e","order_by":0,"name":"Ryosuke Miyake","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ehime University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ryosuke","middleName":"","lastName":"Miyake","suffix":""},{"id":601404605,"identity":"ad5d93ee-dd9c-4a94-9ecf-b2ed10033e65","order_by":1,"name":"Tomoki Nakazora","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Kyoto University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tomoki","middleName":"","lastName":"Nakazora","suffix":""},{"id":601404606,"identity":"d2adc81f-10bc-49d5-96e9-3a7d50fa36f0","order_by":2,"name":"Naoki Kinoshita","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ehime University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Naoki","middleName":"","lastName":"Kinoshita","suffix":""},{"id":601404607,"identity":"f68448be-d9f9-4813-b1ed-9c279de688bb","order_by":3,"name":"Hideaki Yasuhara","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Kyoto University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hideaki","middleName":"","lastName":"Yasuhara","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-01 12:53:08","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9001528/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9001528/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108181898,"identity":"5f076843-2eed-4c7d-bd69-afffec9d3136","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-30 08:59:00","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":4445602,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ManuscriptLPWApaper.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9001528/v1_covered_4573efda-ec98-4bfb-82bb-79870c76bfd3.pdf"},{"id":104041145,"identity":"1fe375b2-a31b-4653-aea2-2273d201329d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-06 04:40:13","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":5194325,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryInformationLPWApaper.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9001528/v1/6e9896da9ea6d92fef48bb2f.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Laboratory and Field Performance Assessment of LPWA Tilt Sensors for Slope Monitoring and Disaster Early Warning","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"LPWA, Tilt sensor, Slope monitoring, Landslide prediction","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9001528/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9001528/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study evaluated the performance of tilt sensors equipped with Low-Power Wide-Area (LPWA) communication through controlled laboratory experiments and extensive field observations on natural slopes. Eight tilt sensors (A\u0026ndash;H), varying in resolution, accuracy, installation type, and communication protocol, were examined. In the laboratory, a high-precision testing machine was used to apply precise tilt angles (0.0001\u0026ordm; resolution, 0.0002\u0026ordm; accuracy), enabling the quantitative assessment of each axis. Sensor accuracy was specifically evaluated using the 3σ (three-sigma) criterion as an index of noise, and Tilt Sensor A was found to exhibit the highest precision. Field observations at three sites in Japan assessed the influence of environmental factors, such as rainfall and temperature, on the tilt sensors' long-term stability. Composite tilt angles and inclination rates were derived from the data to quantify slope deformation. Buried Tilt sensors demonstrated high stability with minimal susceptibility to temperature effects, while above-ground tilt sensors with coarser resolution were more significantly affected by external conditions. At Site A, the tilt sensors successfully captured slope failure\u0026mdash;from initial creep to accelerated deformation\u0026mdash;demonstrating their effectiveness as early warning indicators. The observed relationship between the inclination rate and the remaining time to failure was consistent with previous findings. Crucially, a strong correlation was found between the catalog-specified accuracy and the field-observed noise level, indicating that tilt sensor accuracy reliably predicts field stability. These results provide essential, practical insights for the selection and operation of tilt sensors in slope monitoring and early warning systems.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Laboratory and Field Performance Assessment of LPWA Tilt Sensors for Slope Monitoring and Disaster Early Warning","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-03-06 04:39:30","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9001528/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"61abc559-ba3d-4cb3-ba91-bd7e76a9c1fd","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 6th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-29T07:11:13+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-03-06 04:39:30","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9001528","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9001528","identity":"rs-9001528","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}