Hydrometeorological monitoring system of Lazio’s Region

Today CAE is responsible for maintainingLazio’s monitoring network, consisting of 238 stations, 42 repeaters and 1 control centre. The main measurements are related to the rainfall, the level and the flow rate of rivers, as 200 stations are ...

Let's take inspiration from the article published on the newsletter by the Basin Authority of the Central Apennines District, which reports how the Functional Centre of Lazio Region has faced the COViD-19 pandemic, in order to describe the structure of the hydrometeorological monitoring network, which is the result of...

Let's take inspiration from the article published on the newsletter by the Basin Authority of the Central Apennines District, which reports on the warning system for weather, hydrogeological and hydraulic risks in the days of the pandemic in Lazio’s regional Functional Centre, in order to describe the structure of the hydrometeorological monitoring network, which is the result of 30 years of collaboration with CAE.

Today CAE, in temporary joint venture with another company, is responsible for maintaining this network, consisting of 238 stations and 42 repeaters. The UHF radio network, together with the energy independence of the stations, guarantees the high standards of required reliability, even during emergencies. Moreover, the radio network itself also allows the safe exchange of data with the systems of the Regions of Campania and Umbria, in a two-way communication.

The article describes the importance of the distribution of remote measuring stations across the territory, in order to be able to promptly perform various measurements, essential for interpreting the evolution of a flood.

The main measurements are related to the rainfall, the level and the discharge rate of rivers, as 200 stations are equipped with rain gauges and 82 with hydrometers. Moreover, a discharge detection system has been implemented on 10 hydrometric stations based on the combined use of an ultrasonic hydrometric sensor and a doppler radar sensor for measuring surface speed, able to guarantee better discharge estimation accuracy compared to classical methodologies, based on Rating curveonly.

However, in order to calculate estimates as accurate as possible, other measures are also collected relating to:

- air temperature;

- snowpack’s thickness of the in mountain or hilly areas;

- air humidity;

- pressure;

- solar radiation.

Finally, the system is equipped with a control centre that receives and exchanges data also with external procedures, allowing the centre to feed hydrological-hydraulic modelling platforms, to integrate real-time data with forecast data, to issue regional bulletins and warnings, and to feed territorial information systems and third-party software.

The control centre was already designed to guarantee data’s display “on-the-go”. However, to further facilitate remote working during the COViD-19 emergency period, the Administration has also been able to use AEGIS, a web platform useful for decision-making support allowing a real-time geo-spatial display of information from monitoring and warning systems.