Multimedia Gallery - UMBC researchers will combine sensors and social media to develop a new flash flood alert system.

September 23, 2016

UMBC researchers will combine sensors and social media to develop a new flash flood alert system.

Severe storms and rapidly accumulating rain recently contributed to historic flooding that caused extreme damage to the main street of Ellicott City, located not far from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) campus. Using technology currently used in Spain but that has not yet been tested in the U.S., Nirmalya Roy of UMBC is building a network of wireless sensors to monitor rainfall levels, develop predictive algorithms, and provide real-time flood updates to officials. The system will then be implemented in Howard County and Baltimore County to monitor future flood events in these areas.

Credit: Photo collections from the Office of the Maryland Governor, managed by the Maryland State Archives. [CC BY 2.0]

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