Marine observatories based on sensor networks provide continuous ocean monitoring. The design phase of such systems, which is part of the complete development life cycle, is a complex and challenging task. The design difficulties may induce the designers to make architectural design errors during the design phase. This study aims to identify the best design approach that helps sensor networks designers in preventing errors and validating models at an early phase. In addition, it introduces a new environmental constraint that should be taken into consideration when building design models. To ...