Modern electromagnetic field (EMF) monitoring networks, such as the Serbian EMF RATEL network, are based on continuous EMF monitoring and offer daily observation of EMF levels in areas where people can reside for many hours a day and, consequently, experience an increased sensitivity to EMF exposure. Areas of particular importance are residential locations, kindergartens, schools, hospitals, and children’s playgrounds. Such areas require daily, comprehensive EMF monitoring and compliance checking with the prescribed reference levels. The whole process must be followed by transparent presentation of measurement results, to increase public confidence in the EMF monitoring. However, any additional information on EMF behavior, beyond elementary field strength measurements, is welcome. Therefore, this paper presents an innovative EMF data analysis of monitoring results, utilizing a time-averaging approach applied to acquired EMF data. The analysis is performed on a case study of EMF-sensitive areas in the Serbian city of Novi Sad, i.e., two kindergartens and an elementary school, revealing some of the concealed features in the behavior of the EMFs exposure in those areas, through a comparative evaluation.

The long-term electromagnetic field (EMF) monitoring has become an imperative task in modern EMF investigation, particularly in areas of increased sensitivity to EMF exposure. Such kind of monitoring can provide valuable information on EMF variability, as well as some additional, hidden, knowledge from its continuous measurement data series. This paper will present an approach of the EMF behavior extraction from the measurement results, based on the averaging over time. The case study of the five-year monitoring period was analyzed, in which data seta was acquired by the sensor of the Serbian EMF RATEL monitoring network, in the University of Novi Sad (UNS) campus.

Five European systems for continuous monitoring of outside radio-frequency (RF) electromagnetic field (EMF) provide important insights into the long-term in situ variability of RF-EMF, as a valuable feature for accessing RF-EMF in areas with increased sensitivity to EMF exposure. Unfortunately, their current presentation of field variability through a simple timeline is not suitable for a comprehensive insight into RF-EMF behavior, especially not for applications where annual comparison of field levels over a certain period of time is required. Driven by the need to overview monitored data in some distinctive way and further examine hidden phenomena embedded in system’s EMF data series, this paper presents an additional method for analyzing RF-EMF time series through multi-scale time averaging. A case study was selected to demonstrate the time-averaging framework, using a five-year RF-EMF dataset obtained from a sensor, installed on the campus of the University of Novi Sad, as part of the Serbian EMF RATEL monitoring network. Although this case study reveals some site-specific details, such as a daily ratio between maximum and minimum field levels of 3.6 for weekdays and 2.1 for weekends, the time-averaging framework is applicable to any monitoring network. Furthermore, it is designed to present its findings in a simple manner and to be affirmative of the general population’s perception on unavoidable presence of RF-EMF in the environment, while ultimately contributing to a more rational understanding of the potential impact of everyday RF-EMF on their health.

The Serbian electromagnetic field monitoring network - SEMONT, has recently started taking initial broadband continuous measurements of electromagnetic (EM) field in surrounding environment. The SEMONT system is designed to perform daily observations of EM field sources present in the area covered by sensors network. The measurement results are collected and stored into a centralized database of EM field register and will be used to timely inform the public on real-time level of EM field and to determine the potential exposure of the general population, in accordance to the Serbian legislation and ICNIRP recommendations. An approach for the assessment of daily exposure limits, regarding the high-frequency electric field, is considered in this paper as a solution for the EM field broadband monitoring system - SEMONT.