Glacier Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) Early Warning System in ... · Sutron Corporation | 22400 Davis...
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Sutron Corporation | 22400 Davis Drive | Sterling, VA 20164 | 703.406.2800 | www.sutron.com | [email protected] 11, 2015
PROJECT DETAILSPROJECT NAME Glacier Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) Early Warning
System in the Punakha-Wangdi Valley
PROJECT LOCATION Kingdom of Bhutan
CUSTOMER/OWNER Hydromet Services Division, Department of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs
CONTACT INFORMATION
Name: Karma DupchuTitle: Project ManagerEmail: [email protected]
Name: Sangay TenzinTitle: Deputy Project ManagerEmail: [email protected]
CONTRACT NUMBER DOE/HMSD/UNDP-GEF/2009-2010
CONTRACT VALUE $1,030,000 total
AWARD DATE March 29, 2010
COMPLETION DATE September 2011
EQUIPMENT 17 siren stations 2 automatic weather stations with water level 4 automatic water level stations 1 Control Center 17 Whelen OA-1 sirens 23 9210 data loggers 6 Dual orifice constant flow bubblers Customized Siren control GUI Customized web page for data display
TELEMETRY Iridium
SCOPE OF WORK Four water level sensors were placed at four glaciallakes that are susceptible to GLOF events. Two of these sensors detect whether lake levels have dropped suddenly and two detect whether the outlet streams have risen suddenly. Two additional water level sensors detect a sudden rise down stream of the glacier lakes. If user defined threshold values are exceeded sirens are activated that are located down stream and inthe populated areas.
PROBLEM SOLVED BY PROJECT
Prior GLOF events caused loss of human life &property damage. The most recent was October1994. Sutron’s new system will warn the people toevacuate prior to a GLOF event, thus saving manylives.
Glacier Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) Early Warning System in thePunakha-Wangdi Valley, Bhutan
Completed Siren Station
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Sutron Corporation | 22400 Davis Drive | Sterling, VA 20164 | 703.406.2800 | www.sutron.com | [email protected] 11, 2015
PROJECT CHALLENGES & SUTRON SOLUTIONS
The remoteness of the glacier lakes is a major challenge. No roads to transport equipment reach the glacier area. All equipment must be brought in via mules or Yaks which takes 9 days each way. There is a 100 lb weight limit per animal. Multiple site trips had to be planned with large numbers of people and mules (two people have to carry the larger items).The weather at the upper stations is forbidding so construction must be scheduled between May andSeptember. Telemetry for the system was a major challenge since there are no telephone lines or cell towers in the upper portion of the Project. Sutron used Iridium Satellite Communications for the stations.Inconsistent internet service (Control Center) was overcome by installing a BGAN terminal so that if regular internet service goes down, the satellite internet service will be used.
INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS
The original tender specified radio communication for the Project. Repeater stations between the glacier lakes and the control center were too expensive so Sutron proposed using Iridium to reduce costs & improve reliability.
Completion of Inception Report Presentation 05-2010
S-4 Siren Station Site Selection
Remote Station Installation
Siren Station S-4 Civil Works Construction
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Sutron Corporation | 22400 Davis Drive | Sterling, VA 20164 | 703.406.2800 | www.sutron.com | [email protected] 11, 2015
Installing a Siren
Dangsa Station Construction
Dual Orifice Bubbler Termination, Dangsa
Control Center
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Sutron Corporation | 22400 Davis Drive | Sterling, VA 20164 | 703.406.2800 | www.sutron.com | [email protected] 11, 2015
Siren Control Interfrace