WATCH: Messenger - Large Scale Snow Water Equivalent Monitoring for Hydropower Catchments

In this talk, Adam Funnell presents NORCE's research project Large Scale Snow Water Equivalent Monitoring for Hydropower Catchments.

Click the top image to see a video recording of the presentation.

Abstract

The water held in snow reserves above hydropower plants acts as Norway's battery of energy for the coming year. However, hydropower operators know surprisingly little about the amount of water stored in the snowpacks, and this can affect their energy production decisions. While aerial surveys can give some details, ground truth measurements are also essential for accurate modelling. A new method using optical fibre sensing mats to measure snow water equivalent is presented here. In contrast to existing measurement technologies, the Messenger system is scalable over wide areas and can be installed without fieldwork. A live field trial this winter with NVE will be shown.

Presenter

Adam Christopher Funnell, Researcher at NORCE.  Adam is a photonics and electronics researcher, working particularly in the field of fibre optics. His work at Norce encompasses fibre optic sensing for temperature, acoustic and weight measurement, alongside novel sensing systems in free-space photonics. Adam was previously a Senior University Teacher at the award-winning Multidisciplinary Engineering Education department, University of Sheffield, UK. He has also worked at Microsoft Research and BBC Research and Development, to transfer his academic research on fibre optic communications for data centres into real world application.