Fugro OCEANOR’s SEAWATCH and RIVERWATCH/SOILWATCH are integrated, real-time monitoring and information systems specifically designed for the monitoring and management of rivers, lakes, reservoirs, soil and groundwater, estuaries and coastal waters and ocean.
These systems provide comprehensive support to their users in the form of early warning detection, forecasting and decision-support for resource and emergency management. Modules include monitoring stations, real-time, two-way communications, integration and exchange of data to/from other sources, databases, simulation models (oil drift, atmospheric, ocean circulation, deep water wave, shallow water wave etc) and other dedicated software, computer hardware and software with geographical information systems (GIS), training and institutional capacity building. A new development in recent years is the addition of a tsunami monitoring module to the SEAWATCH system.
SEAWATCH and RIVERWATCH systemscan provide monitoring of various environmental parameters or pollutants, early warnings of a deterioration in water quality, and an indication of the performance of treatment or management activities. They also allow the recording of extreme values. Real-time monitoring also assists water resource managers plan appropriate interventions and monitor the effects of these.
Applications include continuous monitoring of the quality of water entering areas such as lagoons and marshes and discharges to the sea, monitoring for a better understanding of circulation dynamics, pollutant sources, and physical, chemical and biological processes occurring in an area. Other reasons to install monitoring stations include monitoring of industry or pollution sources, monitoring of agriculture and urban pollutants, and monitoring of key assets.