SSRG International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering - (ICEEMST'17) - Special Issue- March 2017

IoT based floods Alerting system

1
M V S S BABU M.Tech., MCSA. 2M jyothi Priyanka, 3J Sai Cherishma, 4G Y S Adithya
1
Asst.Professor, Dept of ECE , RISE KRISHNA SAI PRAKASAM GROUP OF INSTITUTIONS, ONGOLE
2,3,4
III ECE , RISE KRISHNA SAI PRAKASAM GROUP OF INSTITUTIONS, ONGOLE
1
mvssbabu@gmail.com, 2priyameka24@gmail.com, 3chinnicherry416@gmail.com , 4adittya234@gmail.com
Abstract— The purpose of a flood warning service is to detect and especially the lives of people living in areas at risk. Because of the
forecast threatening flood events so that the public can be alerted in expensive cost of gauges to measure water level and the importance
advance and can undertake appropriate responses to minimise the of developing warning systems for measuring levels in rivers that
impact of the event. This is a particularly important technology in contribute to safeguard lives of citizens who inhabit regions in danger
developing countries, where flooding results in massive loss of life of flooding, we present a water level sensor based on water
and property. Flood warnings are a highly important adaptive conductivity.
measure where protection through large scale, hard defences, is not
desirable or possible. This may be the case if defences would cause
adverse environmental or social problems, or where the cost of
defence construction would be prohibitive. In this paper, we present
a sensor to measure water level in rivers, lakes, lagoons and
streams based on IoT. For such purpose and to prove our concept,
we designed a pilot project through a micro-model that is
constructed with a water level measurement sensor based on a
simple open circuit that closes when in contact with water and
experimentally tested into a water container under a controlled
environment.
Keywords –IoT, Flood Alerting System, Sensors, Servers.

I Introduction Fig 1.1 Netduino Plus 2 board

There exist several types of natural disasters, it is known
that flood is one of the most dangerous since they have enough II. BACKGROUND
destructive power to change the course of rivers, sweep away and Very recently it appeared the concept of internet of things
destroy whatever is in their path. Our motivation for this work is (iot) as a topic emerged in the wireless technology field. Iot describes
based on all damages caused in our region due to floods, this natural the pervasive presence of a variety of devices such as sensors,
disaster has caused many people to suffer damage to their homes and actuators, and smart phones or mobile phones that through unique
losing their belongings. Heavy rain caused flooding and damage to addressing schemes, are able to interact and cooperate with each
homes, inhabits from tabasco have been warned against taking to the other to reach common goals [1]. In [2] is mentioned internet of
water without proper preparation following record heavy rainfall things is a paradigm as a result of the convergence of three different
across the state. Tragic floods happened in tabasco, mexico in 1999 visions: internet-oriented visions (middleware), things oriented
and 2007. In 2007, the homes of as many as half million people were (sensors) visions and semantic-oriented (knowledge) visions. In
destroyed and damaged by massive floods. Torrential rain pounded previous works dealing with this term [3], [4]. Hence, it is possible to
the region giving rise to widespread flooding by several rivers burst use the concept of iot to provide communication capabilities to a
their banks. There exist encouragement for researching preliminary device that could alert opportunely to a population before a natural
solutions in this kind of disaster to mitigate and help in rescue disaster occurs. Before using sensors integrated into iot (”things”-
operations. A variety of options there is for creating systems capable oriented vision) some works have been proposed to disaster
of warning vulnerable populations about an imminent threat of situations [5], [6], [7], [8]. Specifically ”things”-oriented vision
floods. works like [9], [10] where rfid technology is used. However, we are
It is important to understand deficiencies in methods and especially interested in those applications centered in disasters by
processes for measuring water level in rivers. Conaguacurrently floods. For example, a system for flood detection is alert [11]. This
monitors river levels in an automated fashion on their website, hence system uses remote sensors to transmit environmental data to a
visible for everyone at any region, but especially for those living near computer system. Various kind of sensors deployed in the alert
riverbanks. However, it is known that monitoring is not automatic system is rainfall, water level, and weather sensors. These sensors
since a gauge performs this task by measuring river stages with a supply information to the centralized database system. Another
limn metric rule, then, the data collected are captured manually and example is found in [12], it is a landslide detection system using a
are is displayed on the congas website. wsn (wireless sensor network). This system has enabled a more
However, the above brings deficiency in the measurement convenient early warning system and provides a system able to learn
process because the data may not have been accurately captured and about the phenomena of natural disasters.
brought to where this information could be too late for help or Current emergency management and disaster recovery systems
planning a rescue strategy. usually involve several parts such as a communication infrastructure
The fact that the data collection of levels of water bodies is and an information management system [13]. Forecasting flash flood
executed by a person and it carries dangers and delays in the by the overflowing of rivers is able to process, analyze (by means of
dissemination of information. One of these risks is endangering the rain gauge and stream gauge) and remotely sensed data to detect the
person who comes to take action, as torrential rains access to the occurrence of a flood. This system is the ideal solution, but it is
measuring points are extremely complicated, and in cases of possible expensive. A variety of hardware, software (including computer
flooding these delays are crucial to salvaging belongings and applications and programs), and communication capabilities are

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 SSRG International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering - (ICEEMST'17) - Special Issue- March 2017

required to support and maintain this water level measurement many modern level sensors to measure levels of water such as stated
system. Several studies have designed river level sensors using in the previous paragraph.
databases, processing raw data, extracting information and sending
wirelessly this information to users. [14], [15],[16]. Another more III. STRUCTURE AND DESCRIPTION
previous works have studied similar issues such as [17], [18]. To test the performance of our water level measurement
Because of climate change extreme rainfall is becoming more system, we have created a micro-model based on a prototype. In this
frequent often, therefore it causes heavy flooding. This causes the way, we avoid waiting for torrential rains to watch how the water
need to monitor constantly the river level, so these measurements rises in a river. It seems an absurd idea to test our prototype directly
must be safe and to have reliable sensors are essential. According on a river. Basically, the prototype has as function to be a flood alarm
to location characteristics, different measuring principles can be system, that consists in a water level meter connected to an audible
used. A water level measurement enables to know the amount of
alarm device in 24-hour operation. When the water level reaches the
water that have a river, it also to know what level it can become
level marked a speaker alert (Siren) is triggered. The prototype also
dangerous because it may cause an overflow, therefore, cause
sends information about water level from the container to a web
floods. Saving level values can make predictions for future levels
server and smartphones as well.
and behaviors in the water level of rivers, lakes, lagoons, ponds,
As mentioned, there are different models and types of
and dams.
water level meters, including sensors based on different technologies.
2.1. Water Level Meters
At this time, we design a solution based on a simple open circuit that
Different types of water level measurement systems are used in closes when in contact with water that takes advantages of existing
industry and research which is shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4. These sensors, so we think that an implementation of water level system can
can find directly measuring the height of the liquid by drawing up to
send alert signals toward a web server or a software application
reference line, other measuring hydrostatic pressure, some more
installed on smartphones. When carrying out this water level system,
which are based on a float system whose displacement caused by the
same liquid is quantified or also those that exploit the electrical we took into account the physical properties of water, hence, take to
properties of a liquid. determine the levels of liquids. Water has the ability to conduct or
Traditional systems for measuring water level have existed for transmit heat, electricity or sound. We believe that the conductivity
decades. Next, we present the most typical ones. feature of the water could be a simple and economical solution for
1) Limn meter Rule Meter: Rule for graduating that is set in a river measuring water level, based on this idea, our work focused on
and used to read the fluctuations of the water levels. studying changes in impedance or resistance of some devices when
2) Liquid Level Meter: This device measures directly the height of they are covered by water. Although there are other alternatives for
liquid taking into account a reference of level measurement of a measuring water levels, such as acoustic sensors, it was quite difficult
container. (See Fig. 2). to acquire for use with the Netduino technology, leading to deciding
3) Sounding Line Meter: It is a rod or ruler which is inserted into a to monitor the levels with water resistivity.
reservoir, the water level is determined directly by measuring 3.1. Water Level Design
the length that is wetted by the liquid. To validate the idea and realize a Proof of Concept (POC),
4) Mechanical Float Meter: It consists of a float located in the tank as noted earlier, we have designed a micro-model that emulates how
connected to the outside showing the liquid level with graduated the river stage rises. This micro-model consists of a water container,
scale. The connection can be direct, magnetic or hydraulic. (See an electronic circuit, a Netduino board, an Access Point, a laptop, and
Fig. 4). a smartphone. We must take into account the water level system
protection, it must have a waterproof coating to avoid get damaged
when water exceeds the maximum level and sensors get dirty due to
high solids in the water, hence, a measurement is recommended in a
controlled environment. It is convenient to use an automatic level
measurement and wireless data transmission, connect the device to a
server.
3.2. Equipment and Materials
In order to design the prototype the following materials and
equipment were used. All parts and elements are shown in.
1) Access Point D- LINK Dir-600.- To wireless communication.
2) LED colors - three colors (color code)
Fig 2.1 Ruler fig 2.2 Manometer
• Green: Moderate Alert

• Yellow: Caution Alert

2.2 Water Level Measurement Sensors
Right now exists sophisticated early warning systems capable of • Red: Maximum Alert
providing some protection from floods. These systems can be from 3) Water Container.- It enables to emulate a controlled
heavy rain event detection via satellite sensors, rainfall gauge environment.
networks, radar networks, or some combination of the three, until 4) Netduino Plus 2 board - Netduino Plus 2 is an electronic
atmospheric fine-scale models, to forecast the risk of flooding in platform to create our prototype since it calculates
rivers or water bodies a short time in the future. Currently, there are measurement and stores readings of levels. This board has the
following features:
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 SSRG International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering - (ICEEMST'17) - Special Issue- March 2017

• STMicro 32-bit microcontroller reached the first level (green), and so on (See Figure 7). At the same
• Speed: 168 MHz, Cortex-M4 time, the circuit also triggers the speaker alert.
• Code Storage: 384 KB
D. Measurement and interpretation of obtained values during sensing
• RAM: 100 + KB The water level is measured by means three phases or layers, That is,
5) 9 resistors (10 ohms).- To cable data input to Netduino plus 2. green alert, yellow alert, and red alert.
6) Micro USB cable (1 m).- To connect the data transmisin from 1) A device emits a signal to the respective sensor to measure the
the Netduino Plus 2 board to the Web. water level.
7) Copper wires .- For cabling all circuit and connecting to the 2) The value obtained from the sensor becomes in alert levels.
Netduino Plus 2 board. 3) In case of failure to comply with the higher criterion than one
8) Water (5 liters).- To fill the container. (>1), return to step 1.
9) Speaker Alert (Siren).- To emit a loud sound when water is 4) Using a dynamic IP address AP with mobile devices where
rising the red level. readings transmitted data is connected.
10) 1 Laptop .- A computer to execute Microsoft Visual C# and 5) A measurement in degrees is added, together the date and time
interact with Netduino Plus 2. when transmitting a signal to the sensor. 6) It is stored into the
11) Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express:.- Programming Language memory card.
for running the water level system.
12) Smartphone. - To receive advices when the water level is IV. TESTIING AND IMPLEMENTATION
changing.
Netduino apps are written using C# language and many of us are
already familiar with the Visual studio IDE for development from
Microsoft. The same Visual studio IDE can be used to create, run and
debug the Netduino apps. Assuming we also already have an
installed visual studio let’s look at other components that need to be
installed in order to start programming Netduino apps. Below in
Fig 3.1 LED Figure 8 is shown the three parts involved in the prototype, after
compiling the Netduino programming code, put water in the
C. Architectural Design
container, the prototype is ready to be tested.
Our water level measurement architecture is shown in Fig.
4.1 Testing prototype
7, all parts are integrated and put it all together, in this Figure is As mentioned, a water container with three wires inside and a neutral
shown the architectural design, it has three open electric circuits, the pole were placed within a container, that was filled with water in
terminals or ends (green, yellow and red wires) of these circuits are three stages and while the container was filling, the prototype was
placed inside the water container (3 and 8), these terminals are sending warning messages to smartphones. How we tested the
connected into three pins of the Netduino board (7 and 4), these prototype proposed in this paper is described in detail as follows:
circuits go through a breadboard where connections are organized. 1) The container (empty and dry) was filled with water up to the
Terminals are located in different heights allowing water to level of the first wire (green terminal).
determine three levels (8), it is assigned a color to each level to 2) Immediately the computer program installed on the laptop
identify more clearly, where the LED in green color is the lowest triggered an audible signal and a message of green alert was
level, yellow LED is intermediate and red LED is the highest one. displayed, at the same time in the Smartphone is shown the
same alert message. We continued pouring water into the
container up to the level of the second wire (yellow terminal).
3) Similar to the previous case, the application on the Laptop
triggered an audible signal and a yellow message was
displayed, same happens in the Smartphone, a yellow message
was displayed on a screen.
4) Finally, we continued filling the container with water that was
in the yellow state level, the water reaches the third and final
level (red wire).
5) PC application immediately sounded the siren and green
warning message was displayed on the monitor, while in the
Fig 3.2 Water Level Architecture smartphone was displayed the same red alert message,
indicating that the population should evacuate.
The brown wire is the neutral pole of the circuit and this pole is
The prototype worked in reverse order when the water was removed
permanently in the bottom of the container when the electrical energy from the top level, the application changed automatically to yellow
flows through the circuit, then it remains open until the water level alert and green alert respectively. In this way we tested our prototype
reaches the first terminal indicated by the green color. The liquid once slowly being filled with water the container; if the water level
serves as a conductor of electricity but with a resistance value so that rises, warning messages are sent to both the laptop and the
a short circuit is not present. If there is a change in circuit current, the smartphone. As a result, if the amount of water poured into the
breadboard has a LED color connected to this circuit, then it has container is constantly maintained, then it is possible to calculate the

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time remaining until the water reaches the next level mark and so on
until the threshold.

Fig. 12. Red Alert Message

V. CONCLUSION
According to definitions of IoT, if we consider a sensor as
an element of IoT which enables to communicate its current status
and be published on Internet, then our proposal is very close to what
we are intending to achieve within the concept of Internet of things.
Nevertheless, the real intent of the proposal is to achieve a
Fig. 4.1. Sensor working and sending alert mensaje to a smartphone flood early warning system. So far, we have only built a micro-model
through a prototype, that sends an audible signal and graphical
messages towards smartphones about the water level into a container.
This micro-model was developed based on a programmable
electronic board (Netduino Plus 2), where some electrical resistors
were connected to three heights into a water container, the rising
water levels covering the resistance so that cause variation in the
impedance, this fact indicates what is the water level, and so on for
the three different heights. This information was transmitted to a web
server via WiFi.
Fig. 4.2. a) Water level up to the first level (green LED), b) Water After, this information can be accessed by mobile devices,
level up to the intermediate level (yellow LED), c) Water level up to users can graphically see the data, these data show the values of
the last level or threshold (red LED) water levels. Subsequently, the prototype tests were conducted into a
controlled environment, these tests consisted in measuring the water
level in a container with water, different filling levels were tested,
such testing showed the expected results. Given these facts, if it is
known the time when rising the water level up to the threshold while
the water level passes each level mark, it is possible to know exactly
these calculations in a real scenario like a river. Hence, people can be
opportunely informed when rising river levels, so inhabitants can
make a decision and start preparing to evacuate their homes if
necessary. So now we can consider a really warning system to alert
residents of low lying areas about changes in rivers.
Fig. 10. Green Alert Message REFERENCES
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