Does it rain ?
The Problem
The clogging of waterways increases the risk of flooding. This risk increases in urban areas, where there is a concentration of vulnerable people, infrastructure, possible obstacles (bridges), and waste.
Our Solution
We developed an early warning service, this contributes to disaster risk reduction and thereby saves lives, products and property.
How it works
The service is based on a combination of in situ observations, citizens’ observations, and a model:
- A camera or light sensor takes regular measurements and transforms these into a simple measure of accumulation.
- Citizens report plastic accumulation via a smartphone app, by estimating the volume or degree of channel clogging (small/medium/near-full clogging), including a photo of the condition of the site.
- A model links plastic accumulation to flood probability to establish the critical warning threshold.
