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Reservoir Water Level Monitoring and Early Warning System

Solution Overview

Da Nang planned to build warning systems linked to water level at Truc Dong and Hoc Khe reservoirs as part of investing in hydro-meteorologic monitoring and early warning systems for flood, flash flood and reservoir breakdown.[1] This initiative was designated as Action 4.7 and also included building an early warning system for Tra reserve.[1] The city budget allocation for this action was 600 million VND by 2020, with 2,000 million VND from other sources.[1]

Technical Components

The automatic hydro-meteorological monitoring network consists of weather-proof enclosures containing data loggers, rechargeable batteries, sensors for air temperature, air humidity, solar radiation, wind speed, water level with attached solar panels and mounted upon masts located at fixed ground stations.[2] To capture changes in weather and stream flow in the basin, the 5-minute and half-hour recording frequency options were set for meteorological and hydrological variables, respectively.[2] All hydro-meteorological data was transmitted every 30 minutes to the data server at the data processing centre via Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)/General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network.[2]

Implementation Details

A total of 20 meteorological stations and five hydrological stations have been built in VGTB river basin.[2] The city budget allocation for Action 4.7 was 600 million VND by 2020, with 2,000 million VND from other sources.[1] The implementation included developing a proposal and roadmap for investment of the monitoring system, encompassing warning systems at Truc Dong and Hoc Khe reservoirs as well as an early warning system for Tra reserve.[1]

Benefits and Impacts

These devices help to improve data availability, connectivity, and usefulness, and facilitate timely flood warning delivery to the hardest-to-reach communities.[3] The results showed that the performance of flood simulation at hourly time step has significantly improved during flood events in September and November 2015.[2] The enhanced monitoring capabilities enable more accurate and timely warnings for vulnerable populations in remote areas.[3]

Climate Adaptation Relevance

This approach directly addresses flooding, flash flood, and reservoir breakdown risks through enhanced monitoring and early warning capabilities.[1] The system's ability to capture rapid changes in weather and stream flow conditions enables improved flood simulation performance during extreme precipitation events.[2]

[1]: Climate Change Adaptation Plan for Da Nang period 2015-2020, vision to 2030 [2]: Improving Flood Forecasting in the Mekong River Basin Using Satellite-Based Observations and Neuromorphic Computing [3]: Flood Early Warning System in the Mekong River Basin: A Review

Sources