Design of an Inclusive Early Warning System. Case of Basin of Pacora River, Panama

Abstract

An early warning system (EWS) reduces the loss of lives and decreases the economic and material impact on vulnerable populations. The work presented in this article consists of a prototype system designed in accordance with the Disability Policy of the Republic of Panama such as the elimination of all forms of exclusion and discrimination for people with disabilities, elimination of physical barriers for the full participation of people with disabilities or social protection to improve the quality of life and greater independence of the population with disabilities and their families. This innovative system links the necessary elements for early and timely warning, and includes the role of the human element of the system and risk management. In our case, the inclusive EWS implied a set of activities that had as goals the generation of a hydraulic model of the river, a sensorial network for the detection of the warning and a communication system for the diffusion of the warning that includes people with visual or auditory disabilities. The inclusive EWS was divided into several sub-systems. One of these was related to the measurement stations, called MOSU, another with the detection of the warning and the diffusion mechanism named SUDI and finally, the device that warns the person the warning itself known as SUIN. The system works in real time through the telemetric interconnection of a sensor network connected to a wireless network that registers the levels of the Pacora river and that these, together with a calibrated hydraulic model of the river, allows for the precise determination of moments in which there is a risk of flood. These sensors monitor the river in its upper, middle and lower part, thus allowing for an automated and efficient Early Warning System.