A Secure Multi-Layer Edge-Based Sensor Architecture for Building-Level Disaster Monitoring and Decision Support

Natural and human-induced disasters can cause significant loss of life and property, particularly at the building level, highlighting the need for effective early detection, real-time monitoring, and rapid post-disaster response. Current disaster management approaches largely rely on citizen reports and manual observations, which may lead to delays and inefficient resource allocation, especially in large-scale events. This study proposes a secure, modular, multi-layer disaster monitoring and decision-support architecture that integrates sensor-based building-edge monitoring units deployed at both the building and apartment levels with a central emergency monitoring system. The architecture comprises three main layers: edge sensing, secure cellular communication, and central decision-making. Building-edge monitoring units collect data related to structural motion and inclination indicators, fire, flooding, and gas leaks, perform preliminary processing, and transmit aggregated data securely to the central system. Communication security is ensured through a certificate-based authentication mechanism supported by a dedicated certificate authority, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and fraudulent data injection. The central system performs automated event detection and separately evaluates physical building condition and communication status, enabling prioritized response planning. To evaluate feasibility, a two-building prototype was implemented and tested through scenario-based experiments involving two independently operating building-edge monitoring units connected to the same central monitoring system. The prototype demonstrated concurrent secure data acquisition and central aggregation from two buildings; however, district- and regional-scale performance requires further validation through larger-scale controlled load tests and field deployments. Under laboratory conditions, the prototype demonstrated sensor-data acquisition, authenticated transmission, and centralized event classification. End-to-end latency and building-edge monitoring unit power consumption were also measured; however, the prototype was not validated under environmental conditions representative of real disasters. Overall, the findings suggest that sensor-based, secure, and centralized monitoring systems may complement traditional disaster management approaches.