The Transformative Environmental Monitoring to Boost Observations in Africa (TEMBO Africa) M44 Consortium Meeting officially kicked off today at The Green Village, TU Delft Campus, Delft, the Netherlands, bringing together researchers, technology developers, environmental monitoring experts and project partners from across Africa and Europe.
Day 1 focused on a hands-on Do it yourself (DIY) environmental monitoring workshop, providing an opportunity for consortium partners to move beyond discussions and engage directly with some of the technologies being developed and deployed through TEMBO Africa.
The workshop brought together experts from TAHMO, TU Delft, Rainbow Sensing, the University for Development Studies (UDS), Ghana, and Kenya Meteorological Service Authority (KMSA) in Kenya including:
The workshop began with the field installation of the TAHMO-GNSS-IR (TGIR), pronounced “tiger,” system, a technology designed to support the monitoring of water levels and flooding.
The installation took place at The Green Village’s Flood Proof Holland Site, where a controlled flooding scenario was recreated to provide a realistic environment for testing the system.
Led by Prof. Nick van de Giesen of TU Delft, the exercise involved the entire team in installing and testing the TGIR system under simulated flood conditions.
The data collected during the exercise will be analysed as the consortium meeting progresses, with partners expected to review the observations, discuss the findings and explore how such technologies can contribute to improved environmental monitoring and early warning systems.
The afternoon session focused on OpenRiverCam, an innovative approach to measuring river flows using affordable, locally deployable technology.
Dr. Hessel Winsemius, Director of Rainbow Sensing, took participants through the different components required to develop and deploy an OpenRiverCam system; from its electrical and mechanical components to software and communication systems.
