Near-Ground Precipitation Sensing for Next-generation Wireless Networks

Sensing is emerging as a significant potential application for next-generation wireless networks. A key open question is what applications could uniquely benefit from the scale of wireless networks. In this talk, we explore the idea of using country-scale wireless networks for near-ground precipitation sensing, which could complement weather radar-based weather monitoring. We develop a physics-based signal model and propose a suite of methods to convert base stations into near-ground weather radars. Towards the end, we will also highlight other emerging sensing applications and discuss a potential layering principle for joint sensing and communications.