Identification of the Burial Depth of Radio Frequency Identification Transponders in Riverine Applications

Abstract

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology enables bidirectional, remote communication between a reader and a transponder (or tag) with a unique ID via an excitation antenna. This study provides a framework for estimating the burial depth of a transponder from a fixed location as a means of assessing scour depth or for other riverine applications. In doing so, a low frequency (LF), passive RFID system is used, which operates at a resonance frequency of 134.2 kHz and can penetrate through saturated sediments. The objective of this research is the development and validation of a semitheoretical expression that relates the decay of the received input voltage (VIN) at the reader with the transponder burial depth or detection distance,