The National Hydrologic Warning Council (NHWC) has released ALERT2™, a new standard for transmitting data designed to significantly improve accuracy and performance in systems and software used for early detection of floods and other water hazards around the world. ALERT, which stands for Automated Local Evaluation in Real Time, uses remote sensors to transmit environmental data via radio to receiving base station computers. The National Weather Service developed this standard in California in the 1970s. Communities now rely upon ALERT systems extensively across the U.S. and around the world as an affordable way to enhance local flood warnings. The United Nations-recognized ALERT standard is also used in automated systems for stormwater quality monitoring, energy production, reservoir operations and dam safety. ALERT systems are popular for real-time environmental data collection because of their mission-critical reliability and low cost. The original protocol had no error detection. “ALERT message handling can overload during high intensity events, such as extremely heavy rainfall associated with hurricanes and flash floods, when you need the information most,” said NHWC President Kevin Stewart. ALERT2™ retains the cost and reliability benefits of legacy ALERT systems, while providing data 10 times faster with higher accuracy and precision. Read More
