An autonomous low-power instrument platform for monitoring water and solid discharges in mesoscale rivers
<p>We present the development of the River Platform for Monitoring Erosion (RIPLE) designed for monitoring at high temporal frequency (<span class="inline-formula">∼10</span> min) of water discharge, solid fluxes (bedload and suspended load) and properties of f...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2020-03-01
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| Series: | Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems |
| Online Access: | https://www.geosci-instrum-method-data-syst.net/9/41/2020/gi-9-41-2020.pdf |
| Summary: | <p>We present the development of the River Platform for Monitoring Erosion (RIPLE) designed for monitoring at high temporal
frequency (<span class="inline-formula">∼10</span> min) of water discharge, solid fluxes (bedload
and suspended load) and properties of fine particles (settling velocity) in
mesoscale rivers, i.e. which drain mesoscale catchments (<span class="inline-formula">≈10</span>–10<span class="inline-formula"><sup>3</sup></span> km<span class="inline-formula"><sup>2</sup></span>). This platform responds to a request to
continuously measure these variables in rivers using a single, centralized
device, and to do this in the most direct way possible. The platform integrates the
following instruments: (i) for water discharge, water level radar, and surface
velocity radar, digital cameras and an echo sounder; (ii) for fine sediment load,
turbidimeters and automatic samplers including the SCAF (a sediment settling
velocity characterization device); (iii) for bedload, a hydrophone; and (iv) for
water quality, a conductivity probe and water sampling. As far as water
discharge monitoring is concerned, priority has been given to non-intrusive
instruments to improve the robustness of the system. All the instruments are
driven by a data logger (Campbell<sup>®</sup> CR6), which
locally stores the data and then uploads them to a remote server every hour
during the day using a 3G modem. SMS (Short Message Service) alerts can be
sent depending on scheduled conditions (e.g. low battery voltage, water
level threshold, all samples of the automatic sampler collected). The
platform has been designed to be as autonomous as possible: it is powered by
a battery that is supplied by a solar panel. Limiting the power consumption of the
platform was one of the main technical challenges because of the quantity
of instruments integrated. A simple 100 W solar panel is sufficient to power
the entire platform, even during winter or low insulation conditions. A
user-friendly interface has been developed, enabling to visualize the data
collected by the platform from an internet connection. It is also possible
to remotely configure the platform within this interface, e.g. to
modify water sampling thresholds or alert thresholds. Finally, the platform
is relatively easy to move from one site to another, because its
installation requires little civil engineering. To date, RIPLE has been
tested on two rivers of the Alps in France: the Romanche river in Bourg
d'Oisans from September 2016 to July 2018 and the Galabre river in La
Robine sur Galabre since October 2018, demonstrating the proper functioning
of the platform.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 2193-0856 2193-0864 |