LCRA Hydromet ET and Soil Moisture program for LinkedIn
- 1. Using a Remote Gauging Network to Build Regional Partnerships and Manage Drought The Lower ColoradoRiverAuthority(LCRA)Hydromet systemincludes more than270 remote gauges across southeastandCentral Texas.LCRA uses data fromthe network tooptimize operationsof the HighlandLakessystemof damsand reservoirsonthe TexasColoradoRiver. The extensivenetworkof rainfall,temperature andwaterlevel stations iswell-established andprovidesaready frameworkforthe collectionof additional environmental datatosupportprojects withregional andlocal partners. LCRA has partneredwith Texasuniversitiestocollectdatatohelpidentify,forecastandmanage drought and floodconditions. The Hydrometnetwork monitorsevapotranspiration aspartof a TexasA&M Universityprogram toincrease wateringefficiency forlandscape irrigation customers.The second project,incoordinationwith The Universityof TexasatAustin,monitorssoil moisture conditionsat several LCRA Hydrometsitesto increase the understandingof hydrologicconditionsinthe Colorado Riverbasin. Evapotranspiration Data and WaterConservation In 2014, several yearsinto a historicdrought, LCRA enteredintoapartnershipwithTexasA&MAgriLife Extension Service tocollectevapotranspiration dataforthe TexasET Network (http://texaset.tamu.edu) IrrigationTechnologyProgram andthe WaterMy Yard program. The partnershiphelpedinstall solar radiationandwind-speedsensors atsix existinggaugingstations,addingtothe rainfall,airtemperature and humiditydatathe stations already collect.Datacollectedatthe Hydrometgauge site help calculate a location’sestimatedevapotranspiration rate.The estimatesare available toLCRA watercustomersto aidin theirwaterconservationefforts. The stations closesttothe mostLCRA watercustomersreceived the ET sensors.Figure 1showsthe hourly data report. Figure 1 The following numericinformation ishourly ET parameterreportdata showing station ID,year, day of year,hour,air temperature,relativehumidity, solarradiation,wind speed and rainfall: 2959,2014,294,000,66.67,72.52,0.00,0.64,0.00 LCRA retrieves the dataremotelyvialine of sight radio.Currently,six ETstations are on-line inLCRA’s waterservice area.Figure 2 showsa typical deploymentof ETsensors andFigure 3 showsa typical data- sharingRTU arrangement.
- 2. Figure 2 This photo showsthetypicaldeploymentof evapotranspiration sensors.They includea tipping bucketrainfall gauge, an airtemperatureand humidity probe, and pyranometersolar radiation,wind speed and wind direction sensors. Figure 3 This photo showsthetypicaldata-sharing and retrievalarrangement with two RTUsand a radio in an equipmentcabinet. RTU Controller for ET sensors Primary Hydromet Communications RTU Data Retrieval Radio
- 3. Soil Moisture Monitoring for HydrologicForecasting and Satellite Calibration In 2013, the JacksonSchool of Geosciences atThe Universityof Texas approachedLCRA withaproposal to worktogetheronthe collectionof soil moisture dataaspart of the TexasSoil ObservationNetwork and the NASA Soil Moisture Active-Passive (SMAP)Mission.The highresolutionsoil moisture data collectedaspart of the SMAP missionwill enable improvementsinweatherforecasts,floodanddrought forecasts,andpredictionsof agricultural productivityandclimate change,accordingtoNASA, http://science.nasa.gov/missions/smap/. Duringthe summerof 2014, UT researchersinstalled soil moistureprobes atseven existingLCRA Hydrometgauges inGillespie County,Texas. The researchersinstalled dielectricsensors atdepthsof 5, 10, 20 and 50 centimeter(seeFigure 4) andincorporatedthe new sensorsintothe existingHydromet RTU data logger. Figure 4 This photo shows a typical soil moisture probe installation.
- 4. A line of sightradioretrievesthe datafromthe sites ona 15-minute schedule andsendsittoUT, which makesitavailable athttp://coastal.beg.utexas.edu/soilmoisture/#/. UT researchers alsoinstalledadditional sensorsat locations hostedby regional groundwater managementdistricts. All the sensorsare withina36-kilometergridcell inthe Fredericksburgareaand easternGillespie County,showin Figure 5as the 36 km2 StudyArea.Soil moisture observations collectedwithinthisgridcell willhelpcalibrate andvalidatesatellite-basedestimatescalculatedfrom radar and microwave techniques. Visitorstothe soil moisture Webpage mapcan select datafromeach gaugingstation (see Figure 6). Figure 5 The aboverepresentsa projectlocation map.
- 5. Figure 6 The abovechartshows rainfall, soil moisturecontentand soil temperaturedata collected fromthe PedernalesRiver at LBJ Ranch HydrometGauge. NotetheJan.22-23 rain eventand the soil response. LCRA watermanagersexpecttouse the ground-basedandsatellite soilmoisture datatoincrease both the confidence and leadtime of seasonal wateravailabilitymodels. Watermanagers particularly are interestedin applyingthe datatodroughtdetectionandforecasting,aswell asfloodforecasting.