Overview

Greenmetrics provides customized solutions to turn real-world data into real-time decisions to optimize resource usage and mitigate climate change risks. Founded in 2022, Greenmetrics was accepted into Startup Lisboa, a reputable startup incubator in Portugal and soon after began deploying solutions entirely focused on impact initiatives to contribute to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

Flood detection has emerged as a priority for city organizations as extreme precipitation events are becoming more frequent and unpredictable. Early detection can lead to mitigation of flood damage, timely alerting and evacuation of impacted citizens, and data-driven decision making.

In February 2023, Greenmetrics began a pilot with the City of Lisbon's Civil Protection Agency, deploying leak detection and LiDAR sensors to monitor high-risk flood areas and drainage systems.

Challenge

Lisbon, Portugal, has faced flooding issues in the past, particularly during heavy rainfall and storms. The city's location along the Tagus River and its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean make it susceptible to flooding, especially in low-lying areas and along the riverbanks. Historically, Lisbon has experienced some severe floods, with notable incidents occurring in the past. Additionally, climate change and urban development can exacerbate the risk of flooding in coastal cities like Lisbon.

To address these challenges, the city has been implementing various flood prevention and management measures, such as constructing flood barriers, improving drainage systems, and implementing urban planning strategies to reduce the impact of flooding on vulnerable areas.

Solution

Greenmetrics utilizes LiDAR technology to measure the height of water streams with extreme precision. It allows the companyName to monitor the effects of concentrated rainfall in hydrographic basins, and unusual variations of water height trigger an immediate warning to authorities. Sensors were placed upstream of the city in an underground duct in Av. Almirante Reis.Flood detection sensors were also deployed in 10 high risk locations in the center of Lisbon that monitor for heightened water levels. The combination of monitoring practices allows Greenmetrics to establish correlations used to create numeric models based on real-world events. Authorities can closely monitor the status of river streams and anticipate unusual events triggering floods downstream.The Helium Network was chosen for connectivity for its low connectivity costs, and ubiquitous, redundant coverage across the city of Lisbon and surrounding areas.

Results

Greenmetrics' smart sensor solutions empower cities to create resilience in the face of rapidly changing environmental conditions.When the Rua da Prata flood occurred on May 23rd, 2023 between 5-6pm, the rainfall recorded upstream of the City of Lisbon was the equivalent to +30% of the historical monthly average. Greenmetrics sensors detected a 10x increase in underground water level. A flood in Lisbon's downtown area began 15 minutes later.

The Director of the Civil Protection Agency was promptly alerted of flood conditions by the city monitoring system when the sudden increase took place, and a team was sent to observe and address the flooding.

The city previously wouldn't be aware of flooding until after the fact, usually with a 30-60 minute delay to arrive at the critical area. Advanced alerting detected the event 15 minutes prior to the start of the overflow leading to flooding in the city. This was detected with a sensor positioned only 400 meters away from the high-risk area. Further placements will allow for even higher lead times for early detection.

Additional time resulting from real-time upstream monitoring allows authorities to:

• Minimize damages by checking and clearing blocked drainage systems.

• Alert citizens and evacuate high-risk areas.

• Close streets.

• Plan infrastructure improvements based on current and historical data trends.

What's next?

Greenmetrics plans to expand the flood detection device network to include other high-risk areas including coastal regions, low areas, river valleys, and more. The flow level device network will also be expanded to further upstream sections of the main water courses in the city in order to gain additional time for early flood detection and prevention.Collected data will be shared with universities and research institutions to support the development of hydrological models considering the new data points generated on flooding events.

Greenmetrics also offers a variety of solutions such as irrigation optimization, tracking, waste management, and water and energy metering.