Empowering the Serbian EMF RATEL System for Monitoring RF-EMF Through Drive Test

The Serbian EMF RATEL system has been monitoring radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields (EMFs) since 2017. As one of five active European systems for continuous monitoring of RF-EMF, it has been able to provide insight into the long-term, temporal variability of the field, especially in areas with increased sensitivity to RF-EMF exposure. Although it has proven its benefits for the general public and the scientific community, the relatively small number of RF-EMF sensors installed at fixed locations reveals its weakness – the inability to cover larger urban areas and provide adequate information on the spatial distribution of the overall field. The distribution of sensors at scattered points is a consequence of the limited costs of system development, as well as the practical difficulties in obtaining an authorized permit to install sensors at a public or private location, which is crucial for the use of any large number of sensors. Consequently, the EMF RATEL network has been upgraded to perform spatial field analysis by integrating the functionality of the drive test, for the first time among existing monitoring systems, developing it to a higher level and achieving progress in RF-EMF research by establishing a single EMF entity for observing both temporal and spatial changes of RF-EMF in the territory of interest. This paper presents some technical details of the integration of the drive test into EMF RATEL, as well as preliminary quantitative results of the corresponding drive test measurements to validate the approach. The aim of this paper is to encourage other, similar EMF monitoring systems to further develop the topic of RF-EMF observation.