Non-Contact Discharge Monitoring in Open Rivers with RQ-30 Radar

How to get accurate discharge rates in open and natural rivers and streams with varying discharge conditions, high turbidity, bed-loads or even driftwood? It can definitely mean a challenging job for any person responsible in the fields of hydrology, river monitoring or water management. The innovative radar sensor RQ-30 by SOMMER Messtechnik perfectly solves any of these monitoring tasks: It measures continuously and without direct contact to the water body, independent of the given cross-section profile and the river geometry, and from very little discharge rates up to extreme water levels and flood situations.

Same as with SOMMER’s new SQ sensor for flow monitoring in wastewater, the non-contact measurement technology is the key: using innovative radar technology, the RQ-30, just like the SQ sensor, can be mounted above the water on a bridge or any other cross-sectional superstructure. It therefore remains free from deposits, it is safe from floods and basically needs no maintenance. Due to two separate, continuous measurements of both, water level and water velocity, the sensor is able to automatically determine the exact discharge rate at any time. All this is done based on an integrated hydraulic model and with the help of the specifically developed and intelligent sensor software Q-Commander.

The system is also well suited for solar powered applications because of its extremely low power consumption. The RQ-30 is able to measure upstream as well as downstream flows and therefore applicable even in rivers influenced by incoming tides.