About Us

On this page you can read about the goals of the project, how we are going to achieve our goals, and the team working behind it all.

Background and Motivation

In 2022, the Northern Rivers region of NSW received unprecedented levels of rainfall, leading to a devastating and fatal flooding event. These floods were widespread and across NSW and QLD, the estimated cost in damages was $9.6 billion AUD (Australian Financial Review, 2022). One of the biggest issues identified with these catastrophic events was that many residents lacked timely or appropriate weather information, and were left in the dark until told to evacuate by the SES, often too late (Sydney Morning Herald, 2022). This has eroded trust in official sources of information (ICEDS, 2022) and has lead the local communities to start looking for other ways to keep the community informed and safe during flooding events.

The region that we have been focusing on is the Northern Rivers region, specifically the small town of The Channon, where the residents currently use citizen band radios and manual rain gauges to keep track of the flooding. The Channon community is very engaged and resilient in events of natural disaster; they have suffered repeatedly in events of natural disaster and have built their own systems to communicate during natural disasters. This community has a network of over 65 CB radios within the communities in and around the Channon to use in natural disasters. They are supported in this by the Summerland Amateur Radio Club, who help train and organise this radio network (The Channon Hub, n.d.).

After the flood of 2022, The Channon community developed a flood safety project to develop a network of rain sentinels to gather observations of rainfall and water course changes to better inform the SES, who put out rain warnings in the region (Kia, n.d.). Rain sentinels are asked to take observations every 2 hours, including throughout the night. Currently, rainfall and creek level data are collected by hand and shared online amongst residents when the internet is still working. Obtaining this data during poor weather, or cases when internet infrastructure is down or damaged, is difficult and dangerous for residents and SES (Archibald-Binge, 2022). In the event of a communication outage, information is relayed via Citizen Band (CB) radio within the community.

Sometimes these rain sentinels are not available, would like to sleep and be rested in the event of an emergency, or in rainy times the radios installed do not work. This leaves a gap in the rainfall information.

The solution that we propose is a network of decentralised rain gauges and creek level sensors, that are not reliant on cellular network, are off-grid, and can provide valuable, life-saving data to the residents of the community, more frequently and more directly.

Our Progress

Since the beginning of 2024, the team has been working on designing and building a network of off-grid decentralised rain gauges. To date, a small network of prototypes have been deployed in the Canberra region for testing and validation of our rainfall sensors, communications, and reliability.

The installed system has been able to provide updates every 5 minutes, and the data from the installed system can be viewed here.

Overcoming Project Constraints

Community-driven flood intelligence systems

The flood monitoring system will consist of sensors for creek levels and precipitation, designed to be both accurate and reliable, even in challenging environmental conditions. These sensors, powered by solar energy and protected by waterproof casing, will ensure that data continues to be collected during extreme weather events. Low-power ultrasonic range sensors mounted on bridges will provide non-contact creek level measurements, while industry-standard tipping bucket gauges will collect precise rainfall data.

Sustainable power solutions

Ensuring uninterrupted operation of the sensors is a key focus of the project. To achieve this, a power subsystem using a combination of batteries and solar panels will provide long-term, off-grid power. The battery management system will regulate charging and discharging rates to extend battery life, and voltage converters will optimize power delivery to all components.

Reliable and resilient communication

In addition to the sensor network, a resilient communication system is being developed. It will utilize an open-source LoRa mesh network to transmit data from the remote sensors to the community dashboard. This network is designed to operate with minimal power consumption, cover challenging terrains, and continue functioning without internet access, ensuring real-time data delivery during critical moments.

Building resilience and fostering trust

Beyond the technical aspects, the project places a strong emphasis on community engagement. By integrating local residents into the monitoring network and providing training, the initiative aims to foster a sense of ownership and trust in the data. With plans for a dashboard that displays real-time information, residents will have the tools to make informed decisions in the event of future floods.

Working with the Community

This project has been working with members from the Channon Resilience organisation to make sure that our project meets the needs of the community, and we have taken feedback onboard during our design and building phases of the project.

This project is also part of the ANU Institute of Climate, Energy, and Disaster Solutions (ICEDS), who have experience being involved with communities with their other projects.

In practice, the system that we plan to deploy will be able to provide anyone with a LoRa device with regular and accurate rainfall and creek level data. The data can also be provided to official sources like the SES or senior members of the community for them to notify residents if they need to evacuate or otherwise prepare for a flooding event.

Meet The Team

Team Members (left to right):

Indira Shinn Rees, u6959910

Engineering and Arts student, majoring in Electronics and Communication Systems Engineering.

Bartholomew Bunk, u7135561

Engineering and Arts student, majoring in Electronics Engineering and Renewable Energy Systems Engineering and Music.

Rhys Jenkins, u6386256

Engineering student, majoring in Mechatronic Systems, Electronic and Communication Systems

Jinchao He, u7230788

Engineering student, majoring in Electronics and Communication Systems Engineering.

Tommi Silvester, u7295898

Engineering student, majoring in Electronics Engineering and Renewable Energy Systems Engineering.

Jess Biggs, u7311549