IP Network Cameras, Camera enclosures, Video Surveillance

USGS Uses Web-based Network IP Camera System To Monitor Flood Hazards in California

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has installed a real-time IP network video system to evaluate flood conditions on rivers in the Lake Tahoe and Orange County areas of California. This fully integrated, end-to-end IP video web service was designed by US Relay, a leading IP video monitoring solutions provider, utilizing its eLiveStream� rebroadcasting service. The system is part of the USGS Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project that will include the installation soon of two additional cameras in Malibu Canyon.

VIEW USGS CAMERAS LIVE AT:
http://ca.water.usgs.gov/webcams

EARLY FLOOD WARNING
Mounted on the banks of the Truckee River at Tahoe City, the Santiago Creek in Modjeska, and the Santa Margarita River in Fallbrook, the USGS network cameras provide valuable information to the National Weather Service, emergency managers, and local residents during storms. October's fires left Orange County hillsides cleared of vegetation, placing residents near the targeted rivers at significant risk to flash flooding and debris flows. The USGS system will act as an early warning system. In addition, it will collect a visual record of flooding and other river events to offer scientists important research data for preventing future disasters. Recording of the images can be provided with the US Relay service.

SIMPLE CAMERA ACCESS
US Relay's eLiveStream allows rafters, anglers, scientists and residents interested in the rivers to operate the public safety camera network from their web browser. No plug-ins or downloads are needed. The US Relay system re-broadcasts the live IP cameras instantly from just one stream of video, reducing USGS's bandwidth requirements up to 98 percent, cutting down on required infrastructure, minimizing costs, and eliminating network bottlenecks at the camera/client level.

Hardware for the installation consists of three AXIS� 213 and Axis 214 PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) IP network cameras equipped with high sensitivity to capture Motion-JPEG and MPEG-4 video in lighting conditions down to 0.005 lux.

Given the harsh outdoor environment they are stationed in and the critical importance of their tasks, all three Axis cameras are enclosed in state-of-the-art Dotworkz D2� all-weather IP66 vandal tough camera housings, the same rugged housing currently in use by the US Military in Iraq and Afghanistan. The D2� is completely water- and air-tight, plus features a thermoplastic fiber composite construction that will not rust or corrode.

Video can be viewed in one of two modes: a static camera mode that updates every few minutes, or the camera operation mode that allows full use of the cameras PTZ functionality to scan the monitored area plus frame rates up to 30 fps. The hosted web pages also show the latest gage readings, river flow/discharge rates and water-surface elevation, along with daily one-hour animations from the image archives.