Automated Dam Data Acquisition

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Automated Dam Data Acquisition Alarm Reporting
System in Puerto Rico (ADDAARS)

• Products featured in this presentation are not
  endorsed by the USGS, the Dept. of Interior, FEMA
  or AEE Puerto Rico.

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Presenters
Miguel A. Pérez - PREPA Introduction
John E. Parks - USGS Satellite Systems
Manuel A. Pérez - PREPA Radio Systems
Pedro L. Díaz - USGS Database
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Geography

• Puerto Rico is a small island (3500 sq. miles or
  8500 sq. km.) located in the greater Antilles of
  the northeastern Caribbean Sea

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• It has a varied topography and is dominated by a
  central mountain range which crosses the country
  from east to west along the middle

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Geography

• Runoff from an average of 70 inches of rain
  annually are distributed along the northern and
  southern coastal plains and stored in 36
  reservoirs

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Background

• These reservoirs are mostly for irrigation,
  hydroelectric and domestic purposes, and are
  concentrated in the south-central region
• Most are located at distant and difficult to
  access sites in regions of varied terrain, which
  make them hard to monitor
• The majority of the dams were designed and built
  prior to the 1950s when the population was about
  2.2 million. Since then, the population has
  almost doubled, resulting in a boom in housing
  construction, in many cases just below most
  reservoirs

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Lago Cerrillos above Ponce
Lago Regulador above Isabela
Lago Dagüey above Añasco
Lago Guayabal above Juana Díaz
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Scope

• As a result, along with several other factors
  such as new design parameters, topography,
  geology, regional seismicity and age of dams,
  these dams are now classified as high-hazard
• The Automated Dam Data Acquisition and Alarm
  Reporting System (ADDAARS) was conceived and
  designed to obtain, monitor and analyze, in
  real-time, critical safety parameters such as
  inflows, outflows, gate openings and lake
  elevations for 29 principal reservoirs

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Instrumentation

• Various types of instruments and equipment were
  installed to provide the necessary data
• They consist of radar-based lake elevation
  sensors, submersible and non-submersible pressure
  transducers, tipping bucket raingages and
  shaft-encoder sensors to record gate openings

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Data Collection

• Data collection platforms collect data from
  sensors at each site and transmit values via
  satellite and radio
• These data are received by central servers and
  are stored in relational database management
  systems. Hydrologic database software with a
  graphical user interface is used to access the
  data

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Benefits

• ADDAARS provides this information to decision
  makers in real-time through a combination of
  radio and satellite telemetry, microwave, fiber
  optic and Internet technology
• The system incorporates redundancy to maximize
  data availability under a wide range of
  hydrologic and meteorologic conditions
• ADDAARS consists of several components working in
  conjunction with each other

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Reliability

• Through the use of this system, the dams can be
  operated more safely and emergency plans can be
  more effectively coordinated and implemented with
  the emergency management agencies

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Data Collection Platform (DCP)

• The DCP collects, stores, and prepares data for
  transmission via
• Satellite
• Radio
• The DCP manages all scheduling of sensor readings
  and organization of sensor data.

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Sensors

• Water level sensors
• Radar based sensors
• Submersible pressure gages
• Non-submersible (bubbler) pressure gages
• Pluviometers
• Tipping bucket rain gages
• Position sensors
• Shaft-encoders
• Integration with existing sensors (i.e. Modbus)

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Sensors
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Satellite Transmitter

• The Satellite Transmitter receives data from the
  DCP and transmits it to the NOAA GOES East
  satellite.
• Satellite communications are one-way from the
  station to the receive site.

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Satellite Transmission of Data

• All scheduling of satellite transmissions is
  handled by the DCP and the satellite transmitter
• After the DCP is programmed, nothing can be done
  during an event without reprogramming the DCP
• Since all transmissions are scheduled, this is
  anear real-time system.
• During an event, you rely on the DCP to provide
  you the data you need.

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Satellite Transmission of Data

• Under Normal Conditions data are
• Collected and stored every 5 minutes
• Data for every 15 minutes during the last 2 hours
  are provided to the satellite transmitter
• Data are transmitted every 1 hour
• Since the last 2 hours of data are transmitted
  every 1 hour, each transmission contains 1 hour
  of fully redundant data

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Satellite Transmission of Data

• Under Alarm Conditions data are
• Collected and stored every 5 minutes
• Data for every 5 minutes are provided to the
  satellite transmitter
• Data are transmitted every 5 minutes while the
  event lasts
• Since only one value is transmitted, no
  redundancy occurs in alert mode.

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Flow of Data via Satellite
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PREPA Communications Infrastructure

• Fiber optic cable (Gb LAN)
• Digital microwave radio links licensed 6 GHz
• Copper wire
• Spread spectrum radio link non licensed
• 2 GHz frequency band
• 5 GHz frequency band
• 900 MHz frequency band / 512 mbps
• SONET OC-48 capacity

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PREPA Communications Infrastructure
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900 MHz Spread Spectrum Radios

• The radios do not require an FCC license to
  operate while VHF radios do require a license
• The radios are subject to less interference when
  compared to VHF radio frequencies
• They have the capability for
• 10/100 BaseT networking at
• 512 mbps
• They have two network-
• routable serial ports

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Radio Communication

• The first serial port of the radios is used to
  send data from the 29 dams to servers located in
  the PREPA offices in Santurce
• The second serial port of the radios is used for
  remote maintenance of the DCP.
• The radios themselves can also be accessed
  remotely for maintenance, configuration and
  upgrades

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Radio Communication

• These data are received at the PREPA server in
  the Santurce office. Each dam is assigned a
  unique IP address and the data are transmitted
  through the telecommunication infrastructure
• Two servers are installed at different geographic
  locations and are used to store and provide
  access to the data from the DCP
• The servers are interconnected by a fiber optic
  cable to provide replication of the data between
  them.

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Field Installations

• 900 MHz Spread Spectrum Radio

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Field Installations

• Master Station

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Field Installations

• Pole Mounted Repeater

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Field Installations

• Field station showing antenna and solar panel

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Flow of Data via Satellite and Radio
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Benefits and Shortcomings of Transmission Types

• Satellite
• More reliable in extreme events
• Minimal management during an event
• - Near real-time system, events are scheduled
  not triggered.
• Radio
• True real-time system, events are triggered
• Two-way communication allows for better
  management of the station
• - More susceptible to damage in extreme events

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Hydrologic Database Software

• Hydrologic database software is used to
• decode satellite and radio transmissions
• store the decoded values in a database
• display the data in both tabular and graphical
  format
• send alarms via beeper messages, email, fax or
  specialized programs
• A graphical user interface (GUI) is used for
  quick and efficient access to data from multiple
  stations and sensors

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Hydrologic Database Software

• The hydrologic database software provides
  flexible tools to review satellite and radio data
  either independently or together
• The database software also facilitates the
  evaluation of the condition of the station and
  quality of data, as well as provides a wide range
  of reports to present both summarized and
  detailed information in printed form

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Alarms
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Hydrologic Database Software
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Redundant Data via USGS NWISWeb
http//pr.waterdata.usgs.gov
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Costs

• Total cost 1,700,000
• 75 percent or 1,272,000 contributed by Federal
  Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under the
  Hazard Mitigation Program
• 25 percent or 428,000 contributed by the dam
  owners as part of Puerto Rico Dam Safety Program
  Requirement
• State and private owners

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Summary

• Improves the distribution and use of manpower
• Provides real-time data for safe dam and
  reservoir operation
• Reduces emergency response time
• Provides a precise and consistent data collection
  system.
• Provides the tools to monitor conditions of the
  dams and reservoirs in real-time at the emergency
  operation center and at the regional operations
  centers

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Questions?
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Contacts
Miguel A. Pérez Administrator Puerto Rico Dam Safety Program m-perez-dsad_at_prepa.com John E. Parks Systems Administrator US Geological Survey Caribbean Water Science Center jeparks_at_usgs.gov
Manuel A. Pérez Senior Supervisor Engineer Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority m-aperez_at_prepa.com Pedro L. Díaz Hydrologist / Director U.S. Geological Survey Caribbean Water Science Center pldiaz_at_usgs.gov
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