Underwater wireless sensor networks: applications and challenges in offshore operations

Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) comprise numerous components such as vehicles and sensors deployed in a specific acoustic area to perform collaborative monitoring and data gathering tasks. Presently, UWSNs face issues and challenges regarding limited bandwidth, high propagation delay, 3D topology, media access control, routing, resource utilization, and power constraints. Research on alternate methodologies to overcome these issues and challenges is underway. However, some of issues remain open for research due to variable characteristics of underwater environment. This paper is a survey of UWSN issues and challenges, in particular, regarding underwater communication, environmental factors, localization, routing protocols, and effect of range and packet size on underwater communication. The paper further proposes solutions to mitigating some of these issues and challenges in real time underwater monitoring using UWSNs.