Author(s): Toshiyuki Moriyama; Shinobu Izumi; Katsuhiro Morishita; Koji Nishiyama; Yasuo Musashi; Ryoichi Watanabe; Yukihiro Shimatani; Sampei Yamashita; Tomoko Minagawa; Hironori Hayashi; Hiroki Iyoka
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Abstract: Rapid expansion of urban areas in Japan has resulted in widespread destruction of forests and paddy fieldlevees, rainwater storage facilities, and infiltration facilities are typically used to control flooding, constructing dams or large rainwater storage facilities in certain catchments. We investigated the adoption of “smart” rainwater tanks, which are tanks capable of sensing water level, monitoring outflow, and which control flow output using pumps. The tanks are connected by a personal area network, making it possible to collect monitoring data and to control the water pumps remotely. Together, these connected tanks make up a rainwater grid system. The Self-Organizing Map (SOM), which represents one of the unsupervised neural network techniques, has been widely used for converting complex nonlinear multi-dimensional features into visually-recognizable two-dimentional patterns. and when a self organized map issues a flood warning, a pre-discharge command is sent to the smart tanks in the rainwater grid system, instructing the water tanks to discharge their contents. We are planning to install this system in the Hii River Basin in Fukuoka, Japan. A total of 106 200 L tanks have already been installed for flood control. The tanks are capable of moderating the peak of a heavy rainfall event and are suitable for experimenting with a grid system. Most households with smart rainwater tanks residents have not yet performed a pre-discharge; instead, the network of 106 tanks will be automatically pre-discharged un the near future. The collected data is stored using a cloud computer system, which can be accessed by the study participants. In this way, participants can understand how the grid works and how much rainwater is captured by the smart rainwater tanks. Since the system of rainwater tanks functions as a high-density rain gauge network, it can be used to monitor the amount of rainfall. An X-band multi-parameter radar network with a spatial resolution of about 250 m 2 has been installed in the 29. 1 km 2 catchment by the River Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Japan. The average density of the 106 tanks in the catchment area is 0. 29 km 2, and the density of AMeDAS (Automated Meteorological Data Acquisition System) rain gauge stations operated by the JMA (Japan Meteological Agency) is about 17 km 2 per station. By using rainfall data from this grid system, it will be possible to calibrate the rainfall data observed by the X-band MP radar network. In the near future, the sensor network for montoring and controling the smart rainwater tanks will be integrated with smart meters and will eventually be a component of a smart house, smart city and smart grid.
Year: 2013