Putting water online

May 1, 2012

This article appeared in Berkeley Engineer magazine, Spring 2012

In early May the Floating Sensor Network project, led by associate professor Alexandre Bayen, launched a flotilla of 100 robots down the Sacramento River. The sensors will provide data on water movement, pollutant spread, salmon migration patterns and how salt and fresh water mix. The information will be particularly useful in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, which supplies two-thirds of Californians with drinking water. “Monitoring the state’s water supply is critical for the general public, water researchers and government agencies,” Bayen said. The mobile sensors provide better data than do the current fixed-location stations and can be deployed rapidly in the event of an emergency, such as an oil spill or levee breach.