Flood Monitoring
Using Sensors & Data

LORIOT Verso Flood Monitoring

Flood Monitoring
Using Sensors & Data

Floods build up long before they arrive. Our Flood Monitoring IoT solution combines real-time precipitation, river, soil and groundwater data with intelligent algorithms to anticipate water levels and act before the damage is done.

Protecting a city from flooding is rarely a question of a single river gauge. Rain falls on slopes several kilometres upstream, soaks into soil that may already be saturated, funnels into channels and basins, and only then becomes a number on a river level chart – often too late to do much more than react. Meanwhile, the decisions that matter most (when to open a retention basin, when to close a road, when to alert residents) are frequently made on the basis of regional forecasts, experience and a phone call.

With our solution we enable the transition from broad, regional flood warnings and reactive emergency response towards localized, real-time and anticipatory water management. By measuring the whole chain – how much rain falls, what the ground can still absorb, what the groundwater is doing and what the rivers and streets are actually carrying – operators gain the lead time to act informed and deliberately.

Benefits




Lead time

Valuable
Lead Time

We continuously monitor rainfall, soil saturation and water levels across the entire city area and surroundings. Emerging situations are visible before they reach the city, turning a chaotic response into an organized intervention.

Decision-making

Objective
Decision-Making

Releasing or holding a retention basin is a high-stakes call. Our system replaces estimation with verifiable metrics and trends, so operators can make each decision with reliable data – during the event and afterwards.

Communication

Coordinated
Communication

Flood response involves many hands: civil protection, water authorities, municipalities, farmers and residents. Automated notifications via email, SMS or third-party systems ensure that everyone receives the same picture at the same moment.

➤ A resilient territory: When upstream measurement, basin operation and downstream warning share one data foundation, the whole area becomes manageable as a single system rather than a set of disconnected jurisdictions.

How it works?


  1. SENSOR MEASUREMENT

    We install a network of environmental sensors across the relevant area: precipitation sensors on the surrounding slopes and in the city, river level sensors at critical cross-sections and bridges, water level sensors in tunnels or flood-prone streets, soil humidity sensors in the terrain that funnels runoff toward the watercourse, and groundwater sensors in wells and boreholes.

    Together these capture not only how much water is arriving, but how much the landscape can still absorb before it starts running off – the variable that decides whether a given rainfall becomes a flood or simply a wet afternoon.
  2. REAL-TIME ANALYSIS

    Thanks to highly energy-efficient and long-range wireless technology, sensor data is transmitted in real time to the cloud even from locations without power or cellular infrastructure – riverbanks, hillsides and remote valleys included.

    Integrated intelligent algorithms structure the incoming data points, correlate rainfall intensity with soil saturation and groundwater response, and project how river levels or basin volumes are likely to develop. Thresholds and escalation levels are configured per location and per stakeholder.
  3. INSIGHTS, ALERTS & PUBLIC DASHBOARD

    All measurements, analyses and forecasts are made available in an online platform, linked to specific districts, basins and river sections. Operators can see current conditions, historical events and projected developments side by side, which supports both live decisions during an event and the review and planning that follow it.

    When a threshold is crossed, the platform notifies the right people automatically by email, SMS or directly into third-party applications such as civil protection or smart city systems. A public-facing view (web portal, QR codes or public information panels) can keep residents informed about current water levels and the measures in place.

    Maintaining public understanding of protective measures is essential. When people can see the data themselves, they better understand the ‘why’ behind a road closure or an evacuation notice, which leads to greater acceptance and cooperation.
Flood Monitoring Infrastructure Graphic


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FAQ


  • How many sensors do I need, and where should they be placed?
    Every city is different. Sensor placement follows the water: precipitation and soil humidity sensors on the slopes and sub-catchments that generate runoff, level sensors at hydraulic bottlenecks and basin inlets and outlets, and groundwater sensors where the water table influences local flooding. To remain cost-efficient, sensors are placed at strategic points that represent as large an area as possible. From a technological perspective there is no restriction on the minimum or maximum area that can be covered.
  • Do the sensors work without cellular coverage or power?
    Yes. Sensors are LoRaWAN®- and battery-powered and, depending on transmission frequency, typically operate for several years without intervention. This makes it possible to instrument remote upstream locations that are usually the first to indicate a developing event.
  • What happens if a sensor is submerged or damaged during an event?
    Field hardware is selected for exactly these conditions, with waterproof and impact-resistant housings and mounting designed for debris and high flow. The platform also monitors the health of the network itself: if a device stops reporting or its battery degrades, this is flagged as an alert rather than silently disappearing from the dashboard. Redundancy at critical sections can be built in where a single point of failure is unacceptable.
  • Does the system decide when to open a retention basin?
    No. The system provides the measurements, the analysis and the forecast; the decision and its execution remain with the responsible authority. Our role is to support that the decision can be made on current, real-time data. Where a customer wants automated actuation, the platform can integrate with existing control systems.
  • How are notifications delivered, and can we control who receives what?
    Alerts are sent by email, SMS or via API to third-party applications. Recipient groups, thresholds and escalation paths are fully configurable, so a soil saturation pre-warning can go to the water authority while a critical river level reaches civil protection, municipal staff and public displays simultaneously.
  • Can the solution be integrated with existing systems?
    Yes. Integration with smart city platforms, hydrological systems or GIS environments is no problem and can be adapted to your needs. Even existing gauges and legacy sensors can often be integrated into the same platform rather than replaced.
  • Who owns the data?
    The customer. Hydrological data is a public asset, and our system is built so that data control and analytics always remain with the authority operating the network.
  • What is the typical timeframe for end-to-end implementation?
    Our extensive global network enables us to set up your system quickly and smoothly. Smaller projects covering a single river section or basin can be running in a few weeks. Nation-wide rollouts take longer, mainly due to the coordination effort across the various stakeholders and land owners involved.
  • How much does the solution cost?
    The solution is adaptable to various budgets and project sizes. A single-municipality pilot is as feasible as a regional rollout. Pricing varies accordingly.
  • Do we need to do the sensor maintenance ourselves?
    Depending on your needs we can also handle continuous sensor maintenance after the initial installation of the system.
  • How does the technology behind the solution work?
    If you want to learn more about the technological aspects of our solutions, please read here.


Interested in protecting your city and catchment from flooding?


Let’s discuss how we can tailor this flood monitoring system to your specific project.