Issues in delivering it systems to field users

IT support for field personnel is starting to appear on bridge inspection sites, construction sites, and on the manufacturing floor. ENR magazine now regularly advertises palm computing-based systems for recording data on a construction site. This support can, and should, take on many forms and functions and needs to be carefully designed and evaluated like any other important tool used in the field. With careful design and implementation, IT devices for the field should have tremendous impact on the productivity of field personnel. If the devices are not carefully designed to take account of the field context and the abilities and preferences of the field personnel, field workers will not use these tools

Early warning system for detection of urban pluvial flooding hazard levels in an ungauged basin

[EN] Prolonged and high intensity rainfall often saturates urban drainage systems and generates urban pluvial flooding, resulting in hazardous flash floods. The city most affected by urban flooding in Colombia (South America) is Barranquilla since lacks a proper storm water drainage system. Heavy rainfall produces flash floods to quickly become torrential streams that flow down the streets endangering pedestrians. This research describes a low-cost early warning system (EWS) to detect in real time the hazard level of a stream in an ungauged basin. The EWS indicates whether it is safe or not for pedestrians to cross a flooded street, based on certain criteria used to assess the hazard level of the torrent. A hydrological and hydraulic model calculates the flow, velocity and water level in all cross sections along the stream. The model uses only real-time measurements of rain gauges and topographic survey data to determine the hazard level. Finally, a wireless sensor network sends the alert to a web platform and warns the community in real time.This project was developed in collaboration with the Institute for Molecular Imaging Instrumentation (I3M) of Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain, in the area of Electronic Systems Design, and funded by the Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation of the presidency of the Republic of Colombia (COLCIENCIAS).Acosta-Coll, M.; Ballester Merelo, FJ.; Martínez-Peiró, MA. (2018). Early warning system for detection of urban pluvial flooding hazard levels in an ungauged basin. Natural Hazards. 92(4):1237-1265. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-018-3249-4S12371265924Abt S, Wittier R, Taylor A, Love D (1989) Human stability in a high flood hazard zone. J Am Water Resour As 25(4):881–890Archer DR, Fowler HJ (2015) Characterizing flash flood response to intense rainfall and impacts using historical information and gauged data in Britain. 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