RF-EMF Exposure Assessments in Greek Schools to Support Ubiquitous IoT-Based Monitoring in Smart Cities

Theodor Panagiotakopoulos, Yiannis Kiouvrekis, Loukas Moysis Misthos, Constantine Kappas

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Everyday living environments concentrate a growing amount of wireless communications leading to increased public concern for radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields (EMF) exposure. Recent technological advances are turning the focus on Internet of Things (IoT) systems that enable automated and continuous real-time EMF monitoring, facing however several challenges mainly stemming from infrastructural costs. This paper seeks to provide a comprehensive view of RF-EMF levels in Greece and evidence-based decision support for a spatially prioritized deployment of an IoT RF-EMF monitoring system. We applied the stratified sampling method to estimate Electric Field Strength (EFS) in the 27MHz-3GHz range in 661 schools. Three different residential areas were considered, i.e. urban, semi-urban and rural. Results showed that the 95% confidence interval for the EFS is (0.40, 0.44) with central value equal to the sample mean 0.42 V/m. We obtained strong evidence that the mean EFS value for all Greek schools is 0.42, which is 52 times lower than the Greek safety limit and equal to 1% of international limits. Mean EFS values of individual residential areas were also significantly below safety limits. Rural areas displayed the highest EFS peaks comprising the strongest candidate to start the deployment of an IoT RF-EMF monitoring system from.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)7145-7156
Number of pages12
JournalIEEE Access
Volume11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Keywords

  • Internet of Things
  • Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF)
  • RF-EMF exposure in schools
  • RF-EMF monitoring
  • smart cities

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'RF-EMF Exposure Assessments in Greek Schools to Support Ubiquitous IoT-Based Monitoring in Smart Cities'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this