In Situ and Crowd-Sensing Techniques for Monitoring Flows in Ephemeral Streams

Flow monitoring during extreme hydrological events is essential for calibration and validation of hydrological models and for an efficient management of water resources. However, flows are hard to monitor and are therefore hardly measured in some places, especially those most affected by climate change, where floods are increasingly severe, causing great damage to facilities and the general population. In particular, in ephemeral streams, typical of semi-arid climates, flash floods may occur as they have a rapid response to a rainfall event and floods are of a sudden nature. In this article, we introduce an in situ and Mobile crowdsourcing (MCS) monitoring system for efficient real-time flow measurement in ephemeral streams. Our system is deployed in the Mar Menor watershed (Murcia, SE Spain), the first ecosystem in Europe with a legal entity, promoted by the citizens in the face of the environmental crisis that is besetting it.