SAGE Continuum

Cyberinfrastructure is essential to our research platform. To accelerate our growth in this important area, we are partnering with SAGE Continuum.

In September 2019, the National Science Foundation awarded a multi-institutional team led by Northwestern University a $9 million grant to launch the SAGE project. The goal: to build a continent-spanning network of smart sensors. This novel cyberinfrastructure would take advantage of dramatic improvements in artificial intelligence technology to improve the flow of information between scientists and the natural world.

Many of today’s environmental monitoring systems struggle to process the immense volume of data that sensors can provide. Some systems resort to saving the data on hard drives that are retrieved from sensors a few times a year. Other systems only collect a small portion of the valuable data and upload it to a cloud server through a slow wireless connection.

With SAGE, advanced machine learning algorithms will be moved to “the edge.” Edge computing streamlines data flowing from devices by providing data analysis very near the site where the data is gathered. The SAGE project can embed computers directly into our sensor network and use edge computing to analyze the complete volume of sensor data as it receives them.

The Oregon Hazards Lab is working with SAGE to integrate its technology into our alerting and monitoring networks. By linking small, powerful computers directly to our monitoring sensors and high-resolution cameras, the SAGE project will enable our researchers to analyze and respond to data almost instantly. From wildfire detection to earthquake early warning, SAGE’s artificial intelligence-enabled sensors give the Oregon Hazards Lab a new tool to understand our planet.