Development of an inexpensive automated streamflow monitoring system

Estimating streamflow is time and labour intensive due to the necessity of developing a rating curve. The development of a rating curve involves acquiring in-field measurements of streamflow across a wide range of flow levels, which can be costly and impractical in remote regions with limited seasonal access. Here we showcase an automated system which estimates streamflow multiple times each day, greatly facilitating the development of rating curves for remote or seasonally inaccessible sites. The system uses an emerging technique referred to as particle image velocimetry (PIV) to track the movement of objects and flow structure features on the mobile water surface to generate velocity vector grids. Velocity grids were used to calculate streamflow and facilitate the development of a rating curve. This work contributes to our field-based knowledge for using automated PIV systems to estimate streamflow in small streams (<5 m wide) using automatically distributed particles.