Surviving the fire: Shallow Underground Radio Communications in Natural Disasters

Abstract

Current wireless communications technology is vulnerable to major weather events caused by climate change. A buried antenna is resilient during and after fires, floods and strong winds. A low power, 2.4GHz transmitter in a resonant slot cavity buried 10cm between the surface was measured and modelled as a vertically polarized wave at the surface. The technique offers promise for short distance communications during and after fire, flood and storm events.