The FEWS Project

The Flood Early Warning System Project

Aim:

To design a Flood Early Warning System for the surbub and surrounding informal settlements of Greenhaven,South Africa.

Hypothesis:

Communities can be alerted in realtime about natural disasters in such a way that lives and property can be saved.

Apparatus:

1. Flood gauges(waterlevel)
2. Weather Radar Instruments(Rainfall)
3. Computers
4. Topography maps

M ethod:

1. Get realtime data from DWAF flood gauges in the Groot Brak River
2. Monitor the Groot Brak River waterlevel hourly
3. Get the WeatherSA weather radar instruments data in realtime
   1. Monitor the rainfall over the Greenhaven area and nearby river systems leading to the Groot Brak River.
4. Contrast read in values to threshold values to determine exceptions
   1. If exceptions are recorded issue alerts through a broadcast node
   2. Broadcast nodes consists of radio,e-mail,cellphone(SMS) alerts etc.
5. Alert rescue officials directly
6. Constantly monitor rainfall and waterlevel

Assumptions:

1. We can access DWAF flood gauges information in realtime
2. We can access weather SA weather radar instruments in realtime
3. We can be able to use the data from flood gauges and weather radar instruments to constantly monitor rainfall and waterlevels in the Groot Brak River area

Requirements:

1. The FEWS must be accurate in predictions
2. The FEWS must be run on an uninterruptable power service(UPS)
3. The FEWS must be portable to be built on any area within South Africa and Internationally
4. The FEWS must have a call center functionality

Conclusion:

• The FEWS must not only alert and warn about floods but must also be able to let people know if they have not built on flood prone areas, and also to let people know what structures in the area can cause induced flooding.
• The call center functionality will allow people to dial-in and be informed about floods.

Download full Scope & Vision document here (-:  scopevision.pdf

For further information e-mail Mkhize F.S at fmkhize@csir.co.za

Casual’Fuse Projects’  Update

Competency with the Climate Changes

CasualAstronomy-Learning from other Planets

The basic design concept behind the ‘Fuse’ is early detection and preparation. The tools already exist but it would be a nice Individual Project to simulate the reports necessary to counter-act natural disasters.

Observing Mars from earth is quite a fascinating concept, but do you ever wonder how Earth would look from that distance? Consider the Mars Canals? Why do these exist?

Floods are just a normal concept.They are not new, but technology is ever changing and what can be done with ICT, is unlimited.Tsunamis are just a concept, as “Tidal Waves”  only with a different name.

Tsunamis can be detected just the same way as floods, from their point of origin to their destination with such accuracy as arrival-time from point of origin.What technologies can aid such a ‘Fuse’?

The ‘Fuse’ suggests a concept, its a strategic concept in Earth Observation, that I would refer to as “Detection is better than cure!”  Casual Astronomy