Intelligent monitoring networks – transformation of data into information for water management

Abstract

The EU-WFD requires certain monitoring tasks, which yet cannot be fulfilled by automated monitoring devices. Nevertheless, the technical progress of recent years allows monitoring station designs, which enable long-term field application under reasonable maintenance demand. State-of-the-art monitoring stations allow the setup and operation of intelligent monitoring networks, which deliver quality proved and utilisable information to the end-user as opposed to a collection of time-series. Based on a full-scale example monitoring station design, long-term observations and possible ways of (automated) data interpretation are discussed.