Measuring river floor go with the flow with photograph evaluation

Fujita Ichiro, a Professor on the Graduate college of Engineering in Kobe university, has evolved a bit of software which can degree the drift fee of rivers the usage of photo analysis. The software program is called KU-STIV (Kobe university space-Time photo Velocimetry). This generation makes it easier to obtain accurate information approximately river flow charges that may be utilized in strategies for flood threat control.

Japan is hit by flood-related disasters nearly each 12 months — one of the maximum current examples occurred in September 2015 when the Kinugawa River collapsed its banks, sending a wall of water into the close by metropolis of Joso. accurate data for rainfall and river drift charge are essential factors in developing flood danger control techniques. thanks to developments in radar technology, rainfall measurements have become extraordinarily specific. but, measuring the glide price of rivers continues to be executed the usage of the a82ee8a4ee179e54beacaecce0423cb2 approach of dropping a stick-shaped glide inside the river and estimating the go with the flow rate from the flow’s velocity via a segment of the river. whilst extreme flooding takes place this method becomes hard to conduct because of the risks involved, and there are a developing number of cases in which go with the flow costs can not be measured at the peak of a flood.

The KU-STIV gadget evolved by Professor Fujita uses video footage taken from cameras and drones to degree the river drift fee. The system superimposes “searching strains” (each among 10 and 20 meters long) on pictures of the river as size requirements. It calculates the glide velocity from the time it takes water floor features and floating be counted at the surface of the river to go these strains, then analyses distribution to indirectly calculate the river waft rate. surface go with the flow measurements taken the usage of this machine had been very just like those taken using acoustic cutting-edge meters (ADCPs) and it is able to be used to degree river flow costs quicker and extra correctly than the set up technique.

KU-STIV has already been adopted by means of many river specialists and River workplaces in Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, shipping and Tourism, and organizations in Hyogo Prefecture have began adapting the gadget for river observation cameras. An English-language version of the gadget is likewise available, and these days Ghana researchers invited with the aid of the Japan international Cooperation organisation (JICA) are being skilled to use the technology. “we’re aiming to conform this machine for real-time calculations, and at the identical time we want to set up this as the usual technique for measuring river glide fee each inside Japan and distant places” commented Professor Fujita.