Kashmir Flood Alert

Measuring water level is one of the most common surface water quantity measurements which is typically used for developing & computing stage discharge relationships or controlling water resources. Continuous real-time measurements can provide flood warning information including alarms for water levels that hit or exceed critical threshold levels to prompt manual or automatic responses such as evacuations during flooding & field operations.
The IoT (Internet of Things) based “Kashmir Flood Alert” Mobile App provides Real-time Monitoring of water levels of River Jehlum and its Tributaries. Devices installed at various guage sites are using Radar Level Sensor technology for Automatic Water Level Recorders (AWLR) which provide periodic (Hourly) data on real-time.
Operation of the radar level sensor is based on pulse radar technology. The transmitting antenna emits short radar pulses. The separate receiver antenna receives the pulses reflected from the water and uses them to determine the distance between sensor & water surface, the time taken by the radar pulses from transmission to reception is proportional to the distance between sensor & water surface. The actual water level of the waterway is then calculated automatically by the radar sensor. Approximately 16 individual measurements are conducted per second & averaged after 20 seconds to minimize wave influences.
Data can be viewed, analyzed & applied through various software solutions for data visualization, network management, modeling & decision support. Reliable data aids in identifying long-term trends, managing risk of critical events like flooding. For crucial decision making, threshold values can be programmed to transmit alarm messages to concerned departments & Administration.
Irrigation & Flood Control, Kashmir (Jal Shakti) department monitor the guage & discharge stations of River Jehlum and its tributaries. The data regarding the guage levels was being provided manually from each site to the department by the concerned officials deputed at various sites. Importance of Guage readings have increased post September 2014 Floods in Kashmir. The timely information regarding the guage levels is very crucial for the Administration to monitor the situation and to provide the critical alerts to general public about the flood threat arising out of heavy downpour / cloudburst or breaches.
The data captured by the Radar Level Sensors is being updated in real time on the server. This Mobile App enables the department to maintain the real time data from each site for official use. The data regarding the water levels at different sites is shared with general public to keep them updated in case of any emergency arising out of heavy rainfall / breach etc. The data collected can be related with weather forecast models and correlated with previous weather history for better decision making.
Department of Irrigation & Flood Control, Kashmir aims to support sustainable development and water resource management, and sharing info among various stakeholders. Main objective of the Department was to establish an efficient, reliable & timely hydro-meteorological data collection & transmission system. The 13 network stations provide real-time water level & rainfall on hourly basis 24x7.
The hydro-meteorological monitoring station spatially covers both mainstream & main tributaries of River Jehlum & is integrated in the existing monitoring system; improving the Divisional hydrological networks, river monitoring & forecasting capabilities. All data collected is made available in a timely manner to the Divisional Flood Management & Mitigation Center & other real time users.
The App has been initiated and owned by Irrigation & Flood Control Department Kashmir. App has been Designed, Developed & Hosted by National Informatics Centre (NIC) Srinagar Jammu & Kashmir.