Abstract
Propagation of cost-effective water level sensors powered through the Internet of Things (IoT) has expanded the available offerings of ingestible data streams at the disposal of modern smart cities. StormSense is an IoT-enabled inundation forecasting research initiative and an active participant in the Global City Teams Challenge seeking to enhance flood preparedness in the smart cities of Hampton Roads, VA for flooding resulting from storm surge, rain, and tides. In this study, we present the results of the new StormSense water level sensors to help establish the "regional resilience monitoring network" noted as a key recommendation from the Intergovernmental Pilot Project. To accomplish this, the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency's Tidewatch tidal forecast system is being used as a starting point to integrate the extant (NOAA) and new (USGS and StormSense) water level sensors throughout the region, and demonstrate replicability of the solution across the cities of Newport News, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach within Hampton Roads, VA. StormSense's network employs a mix of ultrasonic and radar remote sensing technologies to record water levels during 2017 Hurricanes Jose and Maria. These data were used to validate the inundation predictions of a street-level hydrodynamic model (5-m resolution), while the water levels from the sensors and the model were concomitantly validated by a temporary water level sensor deployed by the USGS in the Hague, and crowd-sourced GPS maximum flooding extent observations from the Sea Level Rise app, developed in Norfolk, VA.
Highlights
The modern smart city of today is tantamount to a complex system
We present the results of the new StormSense water level sensors to help establish the “regional resilience monitoring network” noted as a key recommendation from the Intergovernmental Pilot Project
StormSense has recently deployed 28 Internet of Things (IoT)-bridge-mounted ultrasonic and microwave radar water level sensors in Newport News, Virginia Beach, and Norfolk, as outlined on the StormSense project’s website at: http://www.stormsense.com. These sensors will complement the previously installed array of 6 gauges operated by NOAA, 19 relatively new gauges recently installed in 20152016 via Hurricane Sandy relief funds operated by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and 1 gauge operated by Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) in Hampton Roads
Summary
The modern smart city of today is tantamount to a complex system. Such systems are frequently subjected to innumerable non-linear influences on how to efficiently allocate their limited resources (Rhee, 2016). More publiclyavailable water level sensors empower property owners to take responsibility for their assumed risk of living adjacent to floodplains This has resulted in a marked spike in the number of residents who have opted for flood insurance, with 2,231 claims totaling $25M in damage attributed to 2016 Hurricane Matthew (FEMA, 2016). Time living in Hampton Roads was an important factor in risk perception and that information comes from local knowledge, recognized sources of information, and sometimes a haphazard mix of both Examining these issues in Hampton Roads and these recent studies, the context of flood communication and further elucidating the currently vague appropriate flood model parameters for accurate inundation prediction using hydrodynamic models at the street-level scale in a broader context is needed.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
