The American River basin is set to host a large-scale research project involving wireless sensors that will help flood-control managers, farmers and scientists get a much more detailed picture of the amount of water in the basin for homes, businesses, crops and power generation.<\/p>\n
The unique project marks a big step toward a statewide water-monitoring system, according to the University of California Merced, whose researchers are working on the American River basin system.<\/p>\n
The project involves installing low-cost wireless sensors throughout the basin, which serves the Sacramento metro area. The sensors will give continuous information about how much water is available to users.<\/p>\n
The system, which is being used in the Sierra Nevada, could go live as early as January 2013, according to the university.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur research provides a template for the next-generation water system for California,\u201d UC Merced lecturer and researcher\u00a0Robert Rice<\/a>\u00a0said in a news release. \u201cWe will be able to accurately know the amount of snow across the Sierra Nevada, as well as the timing and magnitude of snowmelt, which provides our water.\u201d<\/p>\n Early research was conducted by professor\u00a0Roger Bales<\/a>, director of UC Merced\u2019s Sierra Nevada Research Institute, near Shaver Lake. The American River basin project will be much larger.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going from monitoring a 5-square-kilometer area to a 5,000-square-kilometer area in one big jump,\u201d engineering professorMartha Conklin<\/a>\u00a0said in the news release. \u201cIt\u2019s a full-basin hydrologic observatory, and a prototype water information system.\u201d<\/p>\n The\u00a0National Science Foundation<\/a>\u00a0granted $2 million for the monitoring systems\u2019 construction and installation. The data will be streamed online and available to the public.<\/p>\n More at BizJournals.com<\/a> >>><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The American River basin is set to host a large-scale research project involving wireless sensors that will help flood-control managers, farmers and scientists get a much more detailed picture of the amount of water in the basin for homes, businesses, crops and power generation. The unique project marks a big step toward a statewide water-monitoring … Continue reading UC Merced plans research project in American River basin<\/span>