Large scale data generation of ground water levels using smart sensors to combat drought and flooding
Due to climate change and soil subsidence, drought is becoming an increasing challenge in the Netherlands. Groundwater management responsibilities are fragmented across provinces, water boards, municipalities, and landowners, complicating effective management. Accurate and predictive insights at both the parcel and system levels are essential for sustainable management. Emerging sensor technologies offer the potential to monitor groundwater levels quickly, continuously, and comprehensively. In a project completed in 2023, a prototype sensor and ICT system were developed to record data on Antea Group’s platform. This provided an understanding of how the data could support actionable perspectives for groundwater management. The project aims to further develop and test 100 sensors within two years, designed to fit into standard groundwater monitoring wells. The collected data will help improve drought and flood management in the eastern Netherlands. The research question focuses on determining the necessary modifications to the sensor, electronics, and housing to ensure functionality in standard wells while maintaining affordability. Testing will take place at three locations with a total of 60 wells to evaluate functionality and scalability. The goal is to develop a reliable, cost-effective solution for groundwater management. The aim for this assignment is to validate and optimize the sensor for use in existing field monitoring wells and prepare the complete package for upscaling by an external company to create about 100-200 sensors. This requires testing of the sensor principles in a well, designing a standalone hardware platform (pcb w/ components and networking capabilities (LoRa)) and a housing which in the end will make the system easy to deploy, without further assembly.
Project duration:
Spring 24/25 (February 2025 – July 2025)
Educational programs:
– Mechatronics (MT)
– Electrical Engineering (EE)
Interested, please send your motivation letter and CV to Maarten van Rossum (m.j.vanrossum@saxion.nl)