A small community of 5 distant cameras has been put in to boost the monitoring of key flood infrastructure at Schaffhausen, a municipality within the north of Switzerland. Situated within the foothills of the Jura mountains, the world is uncovered to flood danger so it’s important that flood defence workers are supplied with quick, correct data in order that they’ll reply rapidly and appropriately. (Phrases: Meteor Communications).
The problem
SH POWER keep the vitality and water networks for Schaffhausen, together with the hydro-electric energy station on the River Rhine within the metropolis. A part of their remit is to watch and keep the world’s flood defence infrastructure. Endress and Hauser water degree screens had already been put in, however throughout flood danger conditions it’s critical that managers have entry to detailed data on the elements affecting water degree readings. The problem at Schaffhausen was due to this fact to not simply confirm water degree readings at key areas, however to additionally present flood managers with higher site-specific data and advance information of potential flood conditions.
The answer
As a specialist supplier of distant monitoring tools, together with sturdy, field-use cameras, Meteor Communications labored with the crew from SH POWER to guage the potential monitoring areas. This led to the deployment of Meteor’s MRC-RPS-C Pillar system cameras on the chosen areas.
The MRC-RPS-C Pillar system is an entire, self-contained digicam housed in a stainless-steel enclosure and powered by a small photo voltaic panel. This permits carbon-neutral, autonomous operation with no ongoing upkeep requirement.
All 5 cameras had been put in and commissioned by Meteor and SH POWER engineers throughout a single day in March 2024. Every digicam was pre-configured for website and outfitted with a roaming SIM for dependable community connectivity. The cameras had been set to supply scheduled photographs each hour, with the flexibility to ship extra photographs on demand or when triggered by native flood circumstances. Pictures are compressed to make sure dependable transmission, even when mobile protection is poor – throughout storm occasions for instance. Communication is through 4G, 3G or GPRS and picture visualisation is supplied by the MeteorCloud® platform – a safe internet portal for viewing digicam photographs, diagnostics and historic imagery.
The advantages
Distant visibility of important constructions supplies a variety of advantages as a result of cameras can confirm water degree readings and infrequently present the causes of water rising. For instance, a digicam could present {that a} drainage channel is blocked, or {that a} degree monitor is broken, which permits flood prevention managers to rapidly deploy acceptable workers and tools.
By offering visibility of website circumstances, the cameras assist SH POWER to detect potential flooding incidents at an early stage. In addition they allow the distant evaluation of danger in order that workers can decide whether or not a website go to is critical and secure, and if that’s the case, when that must be, how many individuals will go and what tools shall be required. This helps keep away from pointless website visits, leaving workers and sources out there for essentially the most pressing necessities. It additionally reduces prices and lowers the carbon footprint of operations.
The cameras additionally present an entire overview of the river system, permitting SH POWER to evaluate potential dangers higher and sooner.
The larger image
Within the UK 1,800 Meteor MRC digicam methods have been in service for over 8 years with Authorities departments such because the Setting Company, serving to to watch very important flood defence constructions. Throughout Europe, over 3,500 cameras are at present in operation monitoring important distant infrastructure equivalent to flood defence constructions, rail networks and water therapy works.
