Rapid Deployment of Hydrological Monitoring Station

​Following a 3.2 magnitude earthquake on September 7th, the water level of the karst river Vrljika started dropping very quickly. This rare phenomenon has last occurred in 2004, and, before that, in 1942. Low water levels of Vrljika can be dangerous for several endemic fish species; and the whole Imotski region gets its water supply from Vrljika. Less than 24 hours after the event, Geolux technicians had installed a remote water level monitoring station to monitor water levels of Vrljika in 5 minute time intervals.

 

Geolux has installed its integrated hydrological monitoring station consisting of a radar-based water level sensor (LX-80-15), a surface velocity radar sensor (RSS-2-300 W), a SmartObserver datalogger with integrated GPRS modem and battery charger, a 10 W solar panel and an 8 Ah backup battery. Using an integrated station which relies solely on non-contact instruments allowed Geolux to setup the station in less than 2 hours, giving an extremely short response time to a critical situation.