The measurement of stage in streams and monitoring wells is of prime importance in estimating stream discharge and level of ground water. Stage is the height, in feet, of the surface of the water above an arbitrary datum. Design Analysis Associates, Inc., proposes to experiment with noncontact sensing to measure distance to the surface of water. The objective is to design a solid-state instrument which uses noncontact sensing to sample and record stage.Anticipated Results and
Potential Commercial Applications: Research could lead to the development of a commercial instrument with widespread application. Stage measurements for water resource 42 management are used by many federal agencies (the Geological Survey, the Forest Service, the Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Tennessee Valley Authority, etc.), state natural resource divisions, private researchers, and irrigation engineers. Several commercial instruments are currently available to sample and record water stage. These are, however, contact systems. Research on this project could lead to the development of a lower cost, noncontact, stage measurement instrument.
