High School Students Launch Prototype to Provide Real-Time Flood Intelligence in Livingston Parish
High School Students Launch Prototype to Provide Real-Time Flood Intelligence in Livingston Parish
Student-Developed System Could Help Lower Insurance Rates
DENHAM SPRINGS, La. – Students at Denham Springs High School (DSHS) have developed a flood-monitoring prototype that can help to alert local and state officials to real-time changes in water levels and currents that, without adequate warning, can damage property and threaten lives.
The new project, while still in its prototype phase, could help Livingston Parish officials lower flood insurance rates for homeowners.
FloodEyes TM is the student-engineered flood monitoring system developed by students on the DSHS STEM Sharks Engineering Team. The students began their journey with a school-wide survey that led them to choose flooding as their identified “problem to solve.” Many of them and their family members were victims of the 2016 flood that damaged 70-percent of the residential and commercial properties in Livingston Parish, including most public schools, and they still experience emotional stress during major rain events.
The students met with professors from LSU and the University of Michigan, local and regional engineers, as well as Parish President Randy Delatte and parish drainage crews to determine the focus of their efforts.
They learned that Livingston Parish lacks the equipment and funding to locally monitor water and current levels in the rivers and local tributaries that contribute to flooding Livingston Parish. Furthermore, if improvements to the local monitoring system could occur, those improvements could help to lower the parish’s FEMA CRS scores, which impacts flood insurance rates for homeowners.
Stephen Crawford, vice president of Halff, is one of several engineers working with the students to answer their questions and provide technical guidance in the development of the project.
“I have been impressed by both their innovation, technological skills and purpose,” Crawford said. “The FloodEyes TM project directly aligns with the goals of the Livingston Parish Drainage Master Plan by leveraging data, technology, and forward-thinking strategies to better understand flood risk and improve resilience for communities, including those in rural areas. Their work represents more than a student project. This is the next generation of problem-solvers who are helping shape how we approach water resources, not just in Livingston Parish, but in communities across the country and beyond.”
“The ideas they have developed in this program have the real potential to influence how we plan, communicate and respond to flooding in the future,” Crawford said.
To accomplish their task, the students had to integrate two different sensors, make the data remotely accessible, and then make it available in a cost-effective way where the locals could have access to it.
“I would say that the complexity of this project is not even being attempted at the highest collegiate level, much less at the high school level, and our students are making it happen because of their passion and commitment to finding a solution,” said DSHS STEM Sharks Team Sponsor and Biology Teacher Mark Zweig.
Zweig noted that most sensors adjacent to Livingston Parish measure only stage (water level). The DSHS Sharks’ FloodEyes TM Prototype currently measures stage (water level), and within a few short weeks, will measure stage and velocity simultaneously.
“Only one of our nearby sensors (USGS Amite River gauge at Port Vincent) has this same dual-parameter capability. The dual reading will enable the student’s devices to estimate discharge, not just water height and rate of increase,” Zweig said, adding that the readings can be used for real-time monitoring and by engineering firms for LIDAR modeling and flood resilience.
The DSHS protype costs less than $1,000 in hardware, which is 100 times less expensive to build and deploy than the nearest USGS-equivalent monitoring system. The USGS currently operates the world’s largest river monitoring network, with more than 12,165 active stream gauges providing real-time stage and flow data. Stream gauges are sites on rivers or streams used to monitor, measure, and record the water level (stage) and flow rate (discharge). These stations, often equipped with sensors, satellites, and solar panels, provide real-time data for flood forecasting, water management, agricultural use, and environmental monitoring.
FloodEyes TM requires no WiFi infrastructure, no specialized installation crew, and no ongoing labor costs, so it can be deployed by one person in under an hour anywhere with or without cellular coverage due to onboard SD datalogging. Unlike most USGS gauges, the student-developed protype is portable, allowing drainage crews to use the devices wherever they desire in the future. This allows monitoring to take place in remote locations, like the southern parts of Livingston Parish, and virtually anywhere in the world, which have recurring flooding problems and lack monitoring devices or individual drainage crews.
The FloodEyes TM prototype is currently transmitting live data to Denham Springs High School where students are monitoring and analyzing the information. The students have deployed a device to a location on the Amite River, adjacent to the USGS gauge, allowing them to correlate measurements and calibrate their device for reliability. The next step in the process will be for the students to work with local government officials, drainage crews, and engineers to establish field deployment at flooding hotspots in the parish.
“This project allows for a full engineering cycle to be done by our students, that in the private engineering world, could take years and much money to design, build and deploy,” said DSHS STEM Sharks Team Co-Sponsor Melissa Descant.
“Mentoring these students has been incredibly rewarding, particularly as we’ve watched their ideas evolve into innovative, real-world solutions aimed at addressing local challenges,” she said.
