A wireless sensor network consists of various wireless nodes that communicate with base stations via radio links to form an ad-hoc network. Each node contains sensors to measure conditions, a microcontroller to manage data collection and power, and a radio to communicate with other nodes. Nodes can use star, mesh, or hybrid networks to relay data to base stations. Standards like Zigbee are designed for wireless sensor networks and allow for low power communication and networking. Wireless sensor networks have applications in environmental monitoring, industrial monitoring, smart homes, and other areas where distributed sensing is needed.