M AP P ING, GIS & SURV EY ING
SATELLITES PROVIDING UNPARALLELED ACCURACY
IN DAM SURVEILLANCE by Annabelle Powell, Journalist, Utility magazine
Dams play a critical role in securing our water supply, so it’s vital that issues such as seepage – which threaten their integrity – are detected as early as possible. Here, Utility explores how Hunter Water has employed innovative satellite technology to increase the accuracy of its dam monitoring.
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unter Water has implemented cutting-edge satellite technology to monitor Grahamstown Dam and Chichester Dam, its two biggest assets. The state-of-the-art safety upgrade has engaged Australian company Detection Services, in partnership with United Kingdom-based analytics experts Rezatec. The three-year programs at the two dams will use Rezatec’s Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (AI), increasing the frequency and accuracy of monitoring, while also reducing inspection costs and risks to employees and contractors.
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GEOSPATIAL SATELLITE AI TECHNOLOGY Hunter Water’s journey into using geospatial satellite AI technology began when it was looking at ways to implement a movement monitoring system at Grahamstown Dam. Grahamstown faced unique challenges, with 5km of embankment and a public road along its crest with an 80km per hour speed limit. These factors meant that setting up a traditional survey network on the dam would be difficult and even then, would only monitor select points.
Hunter Water began working on technology that would provide greater coverage of the dam itself and produce frequent, accurate information. This led it to investigate satellite monitoring. Satellite-based technology measures interference patterns with radio signals that are emitted from a satellite. Every time the satellite passes over the top of the dam, it measures the difference in the reflected pattern and can translate it into a movement. Hunter Water Dam Safety Engineer, Daniel Turnbull, said using this advanced technology was a gamechanger for the utility on several levels.
