Closing the Gap: How Smart Sensors Are Changing Coastal Flood Monitoring in Georgia
The experiences of Hurricanes Matthew and Irma exposed a major gap in water level monitoring in coastal Georgia: the single NOAA tide gauge at Fort Pulaski—the only official gauge across the entire Georgia coast—failed to capture the full story of localized flooding in communities throughout the region. Thus, the Smart Sea Level Sensors Project was launched in 2018 to give these communities a clearer picture of water levels in real time. The initiative began as a collaborative effort between Chatham Emergency Management Agency (CEMA), the City of Savannah, and Georgia Tech to install a high-density network of water level monitors across flood-vulnerable areas of Chatham County. Over the last eight years, we have deployed more than sixty monitors on docks, bridges, and drainage infrastructure throughout coastal Georgia. The project is providing emergency managers, engineers, and public works teams critical situational awareness during high tides and storms, while also generating essential long-term data for flood mitigation and sea-level rise planning.
When the project began, there were no low-cost, “off the shelf,” monitoring solutions available commercially. A team of students and researchers from Georgia Tech developed a new monitor design that could be easily deployed and maintained at a fraction of the cost of other available solutions.
With technology advancements and increased commercial availability, the CEAR Hub team has begun the integration and deployment of a new monitor design in partnership with Green Stream Technologies, Inc. These units continue the project goals of low cost, easily deployable units that do not require physical contact with the water. We worked with Chatham County engineers to identify the first priority sites for testing and the first evaluation units were installed around Chatham County in April.
We have deployed twelve of these units so far with seven more planned for this fall. We will continue deployments through the coming year with the goal of having at least thirty new units available for long term observation. We encourage feedback from the community on the most important locations across the Georgia coast.
