Château de Chenavel: A castle under observation

During the French Revolution, Château de Chenavel in the Ain region of France was to be demolished. The order was postponed because the rubble would have destroyed the vineyards below – and the delay saved the castle. Today it faces a quieter threat. Like so many historic buildings, it struggles with moisture: water, soil, the building envelope and the timber structures are damaging each other. The castle is being restored and will gradually open to visitors.

To save a building, you first have to understand how it behaves. That is why a monitoring system has been set up at the castle, linking indoor climate, local weather and field measurements. Since September, a DL-ATM41G2 | Eleven Parameter Weather Station for LoRaWAN® has been recording wind, rain, temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, solar radiation and lightning every ten minutes.

The castle publishes the data on its own dashboard – and takes it one step further: from the same measurements, a second page uses the standard models of agricultural advisory services to calculate spray windows, evapotranspiration, mildew and frost risk for vines, orchards and meadows. No additional sensors, no forecasts.

A castle once spared for the sake of its vineyards now reports on weather, walls and vines.

The climatic surveillance system is developed and operated by Sentinelle Patrimonia.

→ Explore Decentlab's meteorological monitoring solutions

See the live dashboard