Hydrometeorological station and automatic water quality in the Ucayali river basin

Hydrometric stations implementation proposal
The implementation of this automatic system for measuring hydrometric levels in the Ucayali river basin will allow real-time recording of the variation of the river level and flow at different points. The pilot having started at the LPO station, as shown in the following graph.
Pucallpa - Pilot installation


Components of the measuring equipment
The hydrometric measurement system will be made up of the following:
· programmable logic controller (PLC) with network communication and / or GPRS (cellular network) on battery and alternate to direct power network.
· piezometer sensor (measures column of water from river bed to mirror of water).
· solar panel type power supply system.
Arduino based programmable logic controller (PLC)
This is the first Arduino technology based computer designed for professional use.
The PLC consists of 17 inputs / outputs. It also contains several communication ports that provide greater flexibility and control.
The M-DUINO family offers the possibility of expanding up to 127 modules through I2C, which means that it can have up to 7100 Inputs / Outputs in Master-Slave connections, in addition to sensors, etc...

Piezometric sensor
Characteristics:
Measurement range: 0 - 10 meters
12-24v power supply
RS-485 MODBUS RTU communication
IP68 protection

Functioning and operation
The System works by means of a piezometer sensor that will obtain the river levels in real time, which will be registered by a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) sending the signal via the internet (cellular network) to a web application, for information queries. The power supply is through a solar panel system.
The computer architecture allows a reliable and secure wireless communication, which will allow the monitoring of the sensor in real time to modify the frequency of sending the information to the internet network (by default the sending frequency is 1 minute); once the information is sent to a hosting hosted on the internet, it is stored in a database.
The hardware and software to be used are made up of a code level control system and free hardware, for which no payment will be made for the rights to use the technology to be used.

MQTT
MQTT It is an M2M (machine-to-machine) communication protocol of the message queue type, it has become one of the main pillars of the IoT due to its simplicity and lightness, given that IoT devices often have power limitations, consumption, and bandwidth.
Graphical simulation of piezometric levels


Information reception process



Field installation process
On May 13, 2020, the test of the hydrometric measurement equipment built by the AAA-Ucayali was carried out, achieving good results and the emission of the signal via cell phone from the simulated levels of the Ucayali river.
The test was carried out at the facilities of the Peruvian Navy (Puerto de la Capitanía de Pucallpa).
Later, the equipment is installed in the LPO company where it is currently being tested, receiving the information from a flow base of 4,358.8 M3 / s (June 3, 2020).









Ucayali river gauging process and calibration
Comparative: gauging data and flow sensor

Projection of studies to be carried out with the implementation of the Project
The implementation of the hydrometric measurement equipment will allow us to have information on flow rates at the hourly level, values of the large Amazon basins such as the Ucayali river, similar to the Requena station thanks to the latest missions carried out by the HYBAM Project ( IRD / SENAMHI / UNALM Agreement, www.mpl.ird.fr/hybam), information analyzed by SENAMHI Peru and recently documented by Espinoza Villar et al. (2009) and the last study carried out by UNESCO (2006) that allowed this study to be carried out.
The lack of runoff data in the sub-basin of the Ucayali river basin (232 744.6 km2) makes it necessary to execute the project proposal, in reference to the fact that there is only one drainage station for this entire large area.
Specify a study plan for hydrological models based on research carried out in the Amazon and Ucayali basins.
Hydrometric reports of the Ucayali river basin of the AAA- Ucayali (ANA) accredited and authorized entity to report information at regional and local level.
The implementation of a PILOT of this equipment will allow SELF-MANAGEMENT in its installation, operation, maintenance and monitoring, which will decrease the costs in reference to its implementation and will save human resources.
They will complement the needs of this AAA - Ucayali regarding:
Water use rights at a multisectoral level, delimitation of marginal strips, execution of hydraulic works, detection of early alerts, capacity campaigns to determine the QH expenditure curves of maximum avenues and minimums in times of drought, studies and planning of the councils basin water resources, GETRAM (specialized multi-sectoral work group - Ucayali). INTEGRAL MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES

Monitoring of surface water quality in real time
Automated registration of daily and hourly data.
Parameters evaluated:
temperature, EC, dissolved O2, and pH.
Individual sensors permanently coupled in the hydrometric station.
Sensor cost approx. S /. 8,000 soles.
01 year calibration certificate accredited by INACAL.
Information collected every hour per year.
Registration of automated water quality parameters
Automated registration of daily and hourly data.
Parameters evaluated:
temperature, EC, dissolved O2, and pH.
Individual sensors permanently coupled in the hydrometric station.
Sensor cost approx. S /. 8,000 soles.
01 year calibration certificate accredited by INACAL.
Information collected every hour per year.

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