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National Flood Warning Workshop Houston, Texas February, 2012

Modernization of the Harris County Flood Control District Flood Warning System Telemetry Network. Don Van Wie, Telos Services R. Chris Roark, Blue Water Design LLC Jeff Lindner and Jim Greeson, Harris Co FCD. National Flood Warning Workshop Houston, Texas February, 2012.

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National Flood Warning Workshop Houston, Texas February, 2012

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  1. Modernization of the Harris County Flood Control District Flood Warning SystemTelemetry Network Don Van Wie, Telos Services R. Chris Roark, Blue Water Design LLC Jeff Lindner and Jim Greeson, Harris Co FCD National Flood Warning Workshop Houston, Texas February, 2012

  2. HCFCD Flood Warning System • 267 Sites • 887 Sensors • 10 Agencies

  3. Flood Warning System Agencies • Harris County Flood Control District • Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) • San Jacinto River Authority • Trinity River Authority (Livingston Dam) • Sugar Land • Pearland • Fort BendCounty • METRO • City of Houston • Brazoria County

  4. The Telemetry Network • Does the system have the capacity to handle major events? • With 250 rain gages, more than10,000 Reports/Hour is possible ALERT Traffic and Data Losses, July 2, 2010

  5. Why do data losses matter? • ALERT handles missing rain reports well; accumulator values ‘bridge’ across lost reports • Other reports lose timeliness; probability of missing several reports in a row goes up more rapidly than the data loss rate • During rapid rise, lost reports can lead to invalidation of good reports that follow

  6. Radio System Changes • Added second input frequency • HCFCD changed to new frequency • All other agencies remain on original frequency • Combined all data onto one contention-free output channel using ALERT2 concentrators • Balanced loading on repeaters

  7. Original Radio Architecture • All sites on a single (overloaded) input channel • Two repeater output channels required

  8. Updated System Architecture • Two gage input channels • ALERT Concentration increases capacity

  9. ALERT2 Features • Concentration yields tenfold improvement in ALERT throughput • Forward error correction • TDMA – efficient channel utilization

  10. Time Division Multiple Access • Each Concentrator (Repeater) has its own time slot • Multiple repeaters use same channel without contention • Clocks are synchronized by GPS • Freed up one frequency for use as a second gage input channel

  11. Traffic Capacity Has Doubled

  12. The Path Forward • Repeaters: Add ability to repeat ALERT2 messages as well as concentrate ALERT messages • Begin deployment of ALERT2 gages with TDMA • ALERT2 gages will replace ALERT gages as system continues to modernize • Each agency can progress independently

  13. ALERT2 Transition Path

  14. ALERT2 Expected Outcomes • Capacity to reliably handle severe storm events, hurricanes • No corrupted data • Complete and timely information.

  15. Challenges • Overloaded radio channel • Difficult to administer • Aging infrastructure • Damage from Hurricane Ike

  16. HCFCD Responses • Upgraded infrastructure - installed new instrument housings • Modernized base station hardware and software • Improved operating procedures; maintenance metrics and performance tracking • Reconfigured network architecture using ALERT2

  17. New Instrument Housings

  18. Software Upgrades • New data collection software and tools • Browser-based, Graphical User Interface • Data visualization, data export • Integrated Web access permits staff to work where the storm finds them • Two fully redundant, freestanding receiving sites and base stations with data synchronization in real time • Extensive reporting tools and performance metrics

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