As Rhode Island braces for more intense weather, coastal flooding, and unhealthy summer air, a Brown University researcher is wiring the state with low-cost sensors that let residents and emergency managers know — in real-time — how high the water is rising and how bad the air has become in their neighborhoods.
Sol Cooperdock, a research associate in earth, environmental, and planetary sciences at Brown University, said the sensors used by the Network for Environmental Sensing & Technology have location-specific flood thresholds that will immediately send an alert when water reaches a road or a building. The alert could give residents extra time to move their cars, avoid flooded streets, and protect their property. Emergency managers use the data to get a better picture of where problems are emerging.
Cooperdock said gauges used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration can cost over $10,000 and include more sophisticated features, while his homemade sensors cost $250 to $300 each and measure levels within about a centimeter to an inch of the more expensive sensors.
Cooperdock talked about how his free dashboard can help city and town officials plan infrastructure, adapt to climate change, and protect vulnerable residents.
Q. What is the goal of the NEST dashboard?
Cooperdock: The [goal of the] tool is to be able to provide real-time environmental data to the public and to emergency managers and to weather-interested people, as well.
What kind of environmental real-time data do your sensors collect?
The sensors that I build and install give you up-to-the-minute data, so you can know the current conditions of a river, or storm surge along the coast, or flooding over land in a place of interest. Then we decided to expand into other variables, like wind and temperature and air quality, because that became of interest to people as well. I’m providing the wind data I’ve been able to take from other organizations [NOAA], the sensors that I’ve installed, and heat sensors around urban areas that have heat island issues.
How do your sensors fill the gap in climate data?
I try to find new ways and better ways of monitoring the environment. So I’m kind of pushing forward the technological end of environmental monitoring, trying to figure out how to install more sensors for lower costs and get more high-quality data so we can have a hyperlocal network of these bits of information on a day-to-day basis.
Looking at the recent flooding in Rhode Island, we’ve seen communities cut off in Smithfield, and rivers spilling over in urban areas along the Pawtuxet and Blackstone rivers. How do your tools help protect those vulnerable communities?
I use radio technologies that are cheaper than cellular data or wireless internet. That helps keep the cost down. My goal is to have the data out there for everybody to use. I want it to be the most transparent data source you can find.
How much of Rhode Island is covered by these sensors?
I have worked with a few pilot communities that I got in touch with early on. And those are Providence, Barrington, Bristol, and the Port of Galilee [part of Narragansett]. The US Geological Survey network is much more widespread, but along the rivers in more rural areas. I started it a little less than two years ago. At this point, we have 25-plus water-level sensors.
How is the NEST dashboard funded?
The initial funding — the only funding that currently exists for it — was a National Science Foundation grant, and we are exploring further other [state or federal] places we can get funding.
Is there any delay in getting information from the sensors, or a staff that has to monitor them?
It sends data through radio, so it’s the speed of light. As soon as the sensor senses it, it’ll pop up on the dashboard.
Can somebody from a community or municipality request sensors in their neighborhood?
Absolutely. I would love that.
What happens when a sensor reaches flood levels?
If there’s a certain number of inches of water over the land, it’ll trigger an alert. I’ve done a Geographic Information System analysis to analyze when water might be flowing over a road or hitting a piece of infrastructure, and manually defined what those thresholds should be. If a threshold is triggered, there’s a way to sign up to get an email alert. So anybody from the general public can go on the website [nest.brown.edu] and subscribe to flood alerts to get an alert for a specific sensor.
What are the plans to expand?
The original National Science Foundation project targeted four focal communities, two in Rhode Island and two in Maine. And so the two in Rhode Island were the Port of Providence and the Port of Galilee. That was because they are kind of unique, working waterfront communities that are highly vulnerable to different climate-related hazards, specifically flooding.
Is there a cost to put up sensors if someone reaches out to you?
No, I haven’t charged anyone for any of this yet because we’re still funded. I’m hoping to keep this from being a pay-for-sensor type of service. I would like to be able to make this a state-level or at least a government-level funded project because there are so many towns throughout New England that have resilience plans, mostly because of flooding, right?
Have you teamed up with any other groups, like the University of Rhode Island’s STORMTOOLS, RI-CHAMP, and MyCoast programs?
We have all joined in as a Rhode Island environmental hazard collaborative. We’re all kind of part of a collaborative entity.
New England has been affected over the past few years by wildfire smoke. What do your sensors tell people about air quality?
The air quality monitoring is focused on Providence. It’s part of a project that has been around since 2022, I believe, called Breathe Providence. There were 25 sensors around the city and in East Providence that monitor carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulates, and ozone. Those data are not quite as real-time because there’s quite a bit more processing that needs to be done. They’re generally available within a couple of hours after the observations have occurred.
Other than air and flooding, what else does that dashboard tell you?
It’s got tabs that display water level, wind speed and direction, temperature, and air quality. The temperature also includes the heating index, which doesn’t really matter in winter, but by the time the summer rolls around, the heat index will start to be really important. There’s not alerts set up for it, but there are different Occupational Safety and Health Administration-based thresholds that I’ve color-coded in the dashboard that show the heat danger.
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Carlos Muñoz can be reached at carlos.munoz@globe.com. Follow him @ReadCarlos and on Instagram @Carlosbrknews.