CRISFIELD, MD — Researchers from the University of Maryland are proposing the installation of two pieces of weather technology in the coastal community of Crisfield. During Wednesday's city council meeting, Dr. Tim Canty presented HydroNet, a project designed to help flood-prone communities answer critical questions about flooding, including where it happens, how much, and the underlying reasons.
"It's fairly straightforward technology," Dr. Canty, HyrdoNet's principal investigator, said. "We just have to mount it on up here on a dock and it works."
HyrdoNet sonic sensors are solar powered and use a 4G network to communicate flood predictions in real-time. The data is also used to issue warnings before significant flooding is expected and anyone is able to sign up for notifications online or on a smartphone app.
"It's like adding an early warning system to our toolkit and the best part about it is they would be free to us," Crisfield Mayor Darlene Taylor said.
The HydroNet project is backed by the University of Maryland's Grand Challenges Program, which will fund it for three years, with additional grant funding secured for five more years.
Dr. Canty said securing more funding after that period expires is his responsibility. He is hopeful that positive outcomes for communities like Crisfield will help them apply for future grants.
"This isn't just put a sensor out for a summer and that's enough data," Canty said. "People know things have changed."
Doug Curtis has lived in Crisfield his whole life. He said that he has noticed more severe and frequent flooding.
"People's homes get flooded, their cars, it's a mess," Curtis said.
Curtis said he supports anything that will give the people of Crisfield more accurate flood predictions and time to prepare.
"At least you would know a heads up what's going to happen," Curtis said.
Data from HydroNet is only part of the overall picture of flooding in Crisfield. MesoNet, also a part of UMD's Grand Challenges Program, collects atmospheric data that also impacts flooding.
"We can have meteotsunamis, which are tiny, pressure-driven flooding events, as well as wind-driven flooding events," MesoNet Manager James Hyde said. "We need to correlate what's happening on the water with what the wind is doing."
The University of Maryland researchers are keen to deploy three to four HydroNet sensors in Crisfield. Canty said Crisfield is a critical area for flood risk information in a state where demand for such technology is growing.
"As much data as we can gather to figure out where is the flooding worse, what's causing it," Canty said. "From that, we can better help our communities come up with solutions to fight this."