Every water level record eventually raises the same question: is that reading real? A sudden spike overnight, a slow drift across a season, a gap during a storm, the number on its own rarely tells you whether it’s the water that moved or the sensor. Closing that gap, between a measurement and the reality behind it, is exactly why pairing a radar level gauge with a time-lapse camera works so well.
Here’s the two-minute version:
One platform, two ways of seeing the same thing
The radar level gauge measures water level from above the surface, with no submerged parts to foul or drift, and streams to the Obscape Data Portal in near real time. The time-lapse camera watches the very same scene at 12.3 megapixels. Because both run on the same solar-powered platform and report to the same portal, every reading lands next to a matching, timestamped image. A value in your data always has a picture to explain it.
From a number to proof
A level reading on its own is just a data point. With the image beside it, it becomes something you can act on and defend:
- Validate the sensor: confirm a spike is a real flood, not a knock to the instrument or debris on the beam.
- Explain the anomalies: see the barge, the blocked culvert or the shifting sandbar that moved the water.
- Show your stakeholders: back a decision or a report with visual evidence, not just a chart.
Where it earns its keep
- Flood and storm events: watch the water rise in real time and keep a visual record of the peak.
- Dredging and marine operations: track levels and read conditions on site before committing vessels or crews.
- Coastal and river morphology: capture how a beach, bank or channel changes over weeks and seasons, right alongside the numbers.
- Compliance and reporting: pair every reported level with a timestamped image for a record you can stand behind.
Built to be left alone
Both devices are made for long, unattended deployments: solar-powered, nothing in the water to corrode, settings you can change remotely, and data you can reach from anywhere. Set a threshold and get alerted the moment a reading crosses it.
Wherever water needs watching
Ports, estuaries, rivers, reservoirs. If it matters where the water is, and why it moved, you can now measure it and see it.
Want to talk it through for your site? Get in touch.