Ice Engineering
U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Hanover, New Hampshire
Early Warning Flood Stage
Monitoring Equipment
Communities built along both large and small rivers can be threatened by flooding and the associated potential for loss of
life and personal property. Whether resulting from heavy rains, snowmelt, ice jams, or combinations of these, flooding can
occur unpredictably and without warning. An advanced early flood warning system could prevent fatalities and loss of
personal property. The Engineering Resources Branch of the Engineer Research and Development Center's Cold Regions
Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) has long been involved in the development of environmental monitoring
systems for remote sites. Several systems have been modified for use in early flood warning. This report describes a simple
early flood warning system along with an example of its use on the Israel River in Lancaster, New Hampshire.
System description
A typical simple low-cost early warning flood stage system (Fig. 1) will consist of commercially available off-the-shelf-
components (COTS). The major components of an early warning flood stage system are a stage sensor connected to a data
acquisition device with built-in power supply or backup, some type of notification or warning equipment, and a means of
communication. Stage is generally monitored using a pressure transducer. The data acquisition system performs two
functions: it collects and stores real-time flood stage data from the pressure transducer and initiates the notification process
once predetermined flood stage conditions are met. The system can be powered from an AC source via landline or by
batteries that are recharged by solar panels. The notification process can incorporate standard telephone or cellular telephone.
Transfer of data from the early warning flood stage system can be achieved using standard telephone, cellular telephone, RF
telemetry, wireless Ethernet, or satellite transceivers. System configuration options for power and communications are
summarized in Table 1.
Flood Stage
Sensors
Notification
Power
Data
Equipment
Supply
Acquisition
CRREL
CRREL
Communication
Personnel
Computers
Equipment
Public
Emergency
Web Site
Personnel
Figure 1. Simple early warning flood stage system tested at CRREL.
ERDC/CRREL Technical Note 03-2
April 2003
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