Smart IoT-centric Meteorological Monitoring Station Using Low-cost Arduino Nodes

Abstract

Weather monitoring plays a crucial role in numerous applications, including agriculture, environmental analysis, disaster prediction, and smart urban planning. Traditional weather stations are often expensive, complex, and lack mobility, making them impractical for low-cost or rural deployments. This study presents a comprehensive internet of things (IoT)-based weather monitoring system using the Arduino Uno microcontroller integrated with multiple sensors such as DHT11/DHT22 for temperature and humidity, BMP180/BME280 for atmospheric pressure, and an LDR for ambient light measurement. Sensor readings are processed locally and transmitted to the ThingSpeak cloud platform via an ESP8266 Wi-Fi module for remote visualization and data analytics. The system is designed to be low-cost, scalable, and energy-efficient, ensuring suitability for continuous monitoring applications. Real-time data acquisition and cloud-based storage enable users to access environmental conditions from any location, improving decision-making capabilities. Extensive evaluation demonstrates the system’s reliability, accuracy, and stable performance under varying environmental conditions. Furthermore, the proposed system highlights the potential for future enhancements, including the integration of machine-learning-based forecasting techniques and solar-powered operation for sustainable and long-term real-world deployment in remote and resource-constrained environments.