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Flow monitoring with a camera: a case study on a flood event in the Tiber River

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Abstract

Monitoring surface water velocity during flood events is a challenging task. Techniques based on deploying instruments in the flow are often unfeasible due to high velocity and abundant sediment transport. A low-cost and versatile technology that provides continuous and automatic observations is still not available. Among remote methods, large-scale particle image velocimetry (LSPIV) is an optical method that computes surface water velocity maps from videos recorded with a camera. Here, we implement and critically analyze findings obtained from a recently introduced LSPIV experimental configuration during a flood event in the Tiber River at a cross section located in the center of Rome, Italy. We discuss the potential of LSPIV observations in challenging environmental conditions by presenting results from three tests performed during the hydrograph flood peak and recession limb of the event for different illumination and weather conditions. The obtained surface velocity maps are compared to the rating curve velocity and to benchmark velocity values. Experimental findings show that optical methods should be preferred in extreme conditions. However, their practical implementation may be associated with further hurdles and uncertainties.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the American Geophysical Union Horton (Hydrology) Research Grant for Ph.D. students, by the Ministero degli Affari Esteri project 2015 Italy-USA PGR00175, by the UNESCO Chair in Water Resources Management and Culture, and by the National Science Foundation under grant number BCS-1124795. The authors thank Roberto Rapiti and Giuliano Cipollari for help with the experiments and Francesco Mele, Domenico Spina, and Luigi D’Aquino from UIM for providing water level measurements and rating curves.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento per l’Innovazione nei Sistemi Biologici, Agroalimentari e Forestali, University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy

    F. Tauro, G. Olivieri & S. Grimaldi

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Forestali, University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy

    A. Petroselli

  3. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, New York University Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    M. Porfiri & S. Grimaldi

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  1. F. Tauro
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  2. G. Olivieri
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  5. S. Grimaldi
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Correspondence to S. Grimaldi.

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Tauro, F., Olivieri, G., Petroselli, A. et al. Flow monitoring with a camera: a case study on a flood event in the Tiber River. Environ Monit Assess 188, 118 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-5082-5

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