Proof of Concept for Disaster Data Collection via Satellite-Based LoRa: Insights from in-Orbit Tests

Indonesia's earthquake vulnerability demands effective data collection, especially in remote areas with communication challenges. While seismometers are widely deployed, critical data points are essential during disasters. Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites were selected for this study due to their lower latency and reduced transmission power requirements compared to geostationary satellites, making them ideal for lowpower IoT applications such as LoRa. The combination of LEO satellites and LoRa technology provides a cost-effective, longrange solution for disaster data transmission in remote areas where traditional communication infrastructure may not be feasible. Given LoRa's limited data transfer capacity, preprocessing seismometer minimal data points before transmission is sufficient to optimize data monitoring. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of using LoRa for seismometer data collection. In collaboration with the MicroOrbiter-1 satellite, the in-orbit test used a spreading factor of 7, a bandwidth of 125 kHz, and an RF power output of approximately 38 dBm, successfully transmitted key sensor parameters. Two transmission modes were tested: a 16-byte data packet and a 32-byte data packet for the LoRa transmission. The results indicated that the 32-byte mode provided more reliable performance than the 16-byte mode. This successful test proves that the concept of satellite-based LoRa for seismic data collection is viable and can be applied to disaster data collection in Indonesia with notable considerations.