Belgrade: the flood monitoring and warning system is "Made in Italy"

The City of Belgrade, together with the United Nations Development Program (UNPD), has planned a 3-year cooperation within which CAE has won the tender for the supply of PG4i stand-alone rain-gauge stations.

The City of Belgrade is the largest urban settlement in the Republic of Serbia, as well as its administrative and commercial centre. In May 2014, the city suffered substantial damage, in particular in the peripheral area, and that led to the evacuation of many people. This event pointed out how vulnerable cities are to natural disasters, which is why the City of Belgrade, together with the United Nations Development Program (UNPD), has planned a 3-year cooperation to improve Belgrade's resilience to natural disasters. An annual work plan was drawn up within which the activities were defined and distributed over time, and the funds for their implementation were identified. Among these activities there is also the implementation of monitoring and warning systems.

CAE, in a temporary consortium with an important Serbian company, won the tender organized within the project aimed at strengthening the resilience and preparedness of the City of Belgrade in response to natural disasters and moments of crisis.

The project provides for the supply of:

- 34 stand-alone rain gauge stations

- 7 stations equipped with heated rain gauges

- 22 hydrometric stations

- 3 UHF repeaters

These are all cutting-edge supplies: the stand-alone rain gauge stations will consist of PG4i equipped with integrated datalogger and 3G module. PG4i is a stand-alone rain gauge that performs the activities of an entire rain gauge station, allowing you to record and send diagnostic information to a control center or to an FTP server, in addition to the data on rainfall intensity and totals.

The heated rain gauge stations will be equipped with PG2R, a rain gauge designed to reduce consumption to a minimum, which allows it to be used on stations powered exclusively by a solar panel and battery.

As far as the software is concerned, a centralized system will be provided for the configuration and maintenance of the network, together with a database, data visualization software and mobile apps that will allow to monitor the progress of the network even "on the go".

The consortium will also carry out installation, start-up, calibration and testing activities, as well as integration services with existing data belonging to the Hydro-meteorological Service of the Republic of Serbia. Finally, a specialized training will be provided to the end users.