APPLICATIONS
VEPAR Project
​After disastrous floods that happened in Croatia in 2014, Croatian legal entity for water management (Hrvatske vode) and Croatian meteorological and hydrological service (DHMZ), launched VEPAR project with the aim of preventing catastrophic flood events, through modernization of hydrological monitoring equipment and improving early warning systems.
In 2014, devastating floods hit the town of Gunja in Croatia, resulting in the loss of life, homes, and infrastructure. The floods were triggered by heavy rainfall and swollen rivers, causing two dams located over 25 kilometers apart to burst simultaneously. Croatia responded to the disaster by launching several initiatives aimed at preventing similar events in the future, including the VEPAR project. With a budget of 33 million Euro, the VEPAR project seeks to enhance Croatia's capacity to monitor and predict floods, improve early warning systems, and response capabilities. The project is being carried out by the Croatian legal entity for water management (Hrvatske vode), and the Croatian meteorological and hydrological service (DHMZ) as a partner. It is co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund and is scheduled to run until August 2023. The VEPAR project is an ambitious undertaking aimed at modernizing and upgrading the hydrological network of monitoring stations to prevent catastrophic flood events in Croatia and beyond.
The modernization of hydrological monitoring stations
Through 11 subprojects, the VEPAR project will provide and systematize missing data related to basins, watercourses, regulatory and protective water structures, modernize and upgrade the hydrological network of monitoring stations, improve prognostic models, prepare and improve flood risk management studies, procure necessary equipment to implement flood protection measures, and educate and inform the public.​One of the most significant undertakings of the VEPAR project in Croatia is the modernization of over 630 hydrological monitoring stations spread across the country. The upgrade includes the installation of radar-based sensors for accurate water level and flow measurements, additional cameras for real-time situational awareness, and advanced sensors for monitoring water temperature and quality parameters. Geolux, a leading provider of hydrological monitoring solutions, is playing a crucial role in this subproject. As the primary supplier, Geolux is responsible for delivering its LX-80 radar level sensors, RSS-2-300WL radar flow meters, SmartObserver dataloggers, HydroCam cameras and HydroTemp water temperature sensors. The use of non-contact radar instruments lowers overall equipment installation and maintenance costs.
HydroStation package
Geolux has developed an innovative solution to enable quick and easy installation of hydrological monitoring equipment on site. Geolux delivers the equipment preassembled in the HydroStation package, which includes a mounting assembly, waterproof and vandal-proof enclosure for the backup battery and datalogger, and mounting holders for the solar panel and radar instruments. The HydroStations are completely manufactured in Geolux's factory and shipped as a set, simplifying installation and configuration in the field. With a typical installation and setup time of less than one hour, the HydroStations can be easily mounted on the side of a bridge or other suitable location. Furthermore, the versatility of the SmartObserver datalogger enables HydroStations to be expanded in the future to incorporate additional hydrological or meteorological equipment, providing flexibility and adaptability for future needs. The monitoring stations have a two-level redundancy system to maintain real-time data availability in case of equipment damage or network failures. At the first level, critical monitoring sites have two independent sets of equipment installed, each with its own power supply, datalogger, and instruments. The primary set of equipment uses radar level sensors, while the backup set uses bubbler water level sensors, thus ensuring continuous measurements even if one set of equipment is damaged. On the second level, critical sites use two different communication systems for real-time data transmission. The primary link uses cellular GSM/GPRS/4G communication, but during disastrous events when cellular networks are overloaded as people extensively use cellular service to communicate with emergency services and family members, the system switches to a secondary LoRaWAN data link transmission. This redundancy system guarantees continuous water level and discharge data availability, even in the worst-case scenario.
Geolux HydroView
Geolux HydroView software is the central hub for collecting, visualizing, and managing all measured data from the modernized monitoring stations. It offers various tools for simple remote management, equipment diagnostics and visualisation and analytics of measured hydrological and meteorological data. Users can arrange monitoring sites in groups, customize dashboard views, and select the most relevant data for presentation. One of the unique features of HydroView is the configuration of dynamic measurement time intervals, which allows the monitoring site to automatically switch to a shorter period between making two measurements based on water level or discharge measurement. For example, when the water level rises above a specific threshold, a site that measures and transmits data every 15 minutes can automatically switch to 5-minute measurements. Additionally, HydroView enables remote reconfiguration of any instrument parameters at monitoring sites, and performing remote firmware updates. With the HydroCam camera installed on the monitoring site, HydroView provides the ability to remotely perform visual inspection of the site's conditions by displaying the latest image and historical site images. Finally, HydroView has advanced capabilities to calculate discharge using different methods, such as rating curve method, Parshall flume, or discharge based on the measurements of the water level and surface velocity.
Conclusion​
In conclusion, the VEPAR project is a testament to the dedication and collaboration required to address the growing threat of floods in Croatia. With Geolux's expertise in hydrological monitoring equipment, the project is well-equipped to achieve its goals of modernizing over 630 monitoring stations across the country. The advanced technology used in this project, such as radar measurements of water level and flow, additional cameras for situational awareness, and monitoring of water temperature and water quality parameters, will provide invaluable data to help prevent catastrophic flood events. By the end of 2023, the VEPAR project will undoubtedly be among the most modern and technologically advanced integrated water resources monitoring systems in the world, setting a standard for other countries to follow. The success of this project highlights the importance of investing in advanced technologies to manage the growing risk of natural disasters and protect the safety and well-being of communities.
