Central Saxon Flood Information Office
PSI’s information- and communication system allows a real-time and fail-safe operation. It is therefore possible to access water levels and rainfall information within a few minutes and automatically feed the data into the system. Where value limits are exceeded the communication platform automatically raises alarm via fax, e-mail, SMS or telephone call.
In summer of 2002 large parts of Saxony were flooded. In Dresden the famous Semper Opera was threatened. Frequent-ly alerts did not reach the responsible local persons in time. The volume of water flooded away all measuring instru-ments at some river sections. Measure-ments and forecasts were solely based on the information by part-time gauge re-porters who read the level markers and telephoned the water levels in.
The Tasks - The Targets
Therefore, reconstruction could not be limited to buildings and streets. New level measuring devices including data telecommunication techniques were required. Regionally allocated responsi-bilities were bundled and a new Cen-tral Saxon Flood Office was founded in Dresden. Here "all the wires" meet around the clock. At the LHWZ all measured values may be accessed, re-ports received and evaluations and fore-casts be made. Thus the persons in charge in the communities and dis-tricts (potentially) concerned can be informed and alerted on time in case of emergency.
PSI's Contribution
PSI supported this project by
- the design,
- the configuration and adaptation as
- the taking into service
The system is based on PSI's tried and tested control systems technology and enables fail-safe operation in real-time. It is therefore possible to access water levels and rainfall information all over Saxony within a few minutes and au-tomatically feed the data into the system. This data is complemented by an interactive voice system which gauge reporters may not only use to capture measured values but also to report "plain" remarks to the Central Office as well as to receive news from it.
All data are checked for plausibil-ity and filed in archives. Alert thresh-olds are automatically monitored. The great volume of data requires a monitoring system which is easy to operate in times of crisis and enables the survey of whole river regions (particu-larly where many value limits are viola-ted) as well as detailed presentations and evaluations of data as time series. The information on rising water levels and flood alerts is transmitted to the local people in charge by the commu-nication platform. Where value limits are crossed it automatically raises alarm via fax, e-mail, SMS or telephone call. To prevent that important information is being lost, there is a mechanism to confirm messages by the recipi-ent. Messages not confirmed will lead to an escalation.
