Winner of the WMO HydroHub Innovation Call – Latin America and the Caribbean

This Innovation Call, arranged in cooperation with the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), aims at building the capacity of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and end-users/institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean to use innovative hydrometric observation technologies or monitoring approaches. 

The selected project will focus on improving observation technologies or monitoring approaches that address known operational hydrometric challenges related to the measurement of water security, thus helping to provide the data and information necessary for water planning and management. The awarded vendor is , which will be implementing this project in consortium with National Water Institute of Argentina (INA) and a company ORUS.

Project Summary 

The awarded project is titled “RIVeR-LAC: Innovation in Large-Scale Particle Image Velocimetry for water management and water resources monitoring”, and aims at revolutionizing hydrometric monitoring in Latin America and the Caribbean. It introduces the technology of Large-Scale Particle Image Velocimetry (LSPIV) and a best practice guidelines for measuring flow rates in bodies of water, enabling non-intrusive, precise, and cost-effective measurement. 

This innovative approach not only reduces operational costs, but also enhances the quality of measurements and provides early warnings for extreme weather events such as floods. Furthermore, it promotes long-term sustainability as the utilized tools will be open-source, offering entrepreneurship opportunities for regional small businesses. In summary, "RIVeR-LAC" aims to boost water security in the region and ensure efficient water resource management. 

The project is foreseen to achieve numerous outcomes, including: 

• Development of a Python version of RIVeR, available as open-source software. This software will be user-friendly, allowing users who may not necessarily be specialists to use it, thereby facilitating and encouraging the adoption of this technique by various organizations and institutions in the region. 
• Implementation of LSPIV in the pilot basins and collection of hydrometric data. 
• Creation of best practice guidelines for the collection and analysis of hydrometric data using image-based techniques. · Training and dissemination of the guidelines among organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean. 
• Evaluation of the possibility of integrating LSPIV stations with early warning and hydrometeorological forecasting systems, identifying associated challenges and proposing potential solutions. 
• Improvement in the quality, quantity, and reliability of available hydrometric data. 
• Enhanced capacity for early warning in cases of flash floods in densely populated urban areas, through the assessment of the hydrodynamic behavior of the study basins. 

Stay tuned for more updates on the project!