Greetings!
With the ability to accurately measure both velocity and level and compute flow in real time, Non-Contact Radar is becoming a game-changer for water authorities around the world. Mounted safely high above the water away from potentially damaging debris and fouling, the RQ-30 is a highly effective tool in the hands of the water professional, enabling velocity and discharge measurements to be obtained at sites previously thought too challenging or dangerous. 

Data in Real Time
The availability of real time discharge data has become increasingly important to water authorities who require detailed data quickly for optimal water management strategies.The conventional method is the development of a relation called a "stage discharge rating" by taking periodic measurements of the discharge using mechanical current meters or acoustic doppler current profilers (ADCP) for a range of stages. Complex flow conditions may negate stable stage-discharge ratings and make the use of conventional methods impractical or impossible. These conditions include flow reversals, backwater effects and hysteresis effects.


A Smarter Sensor...a machine that learns
The Sommer RQ-30 incorporates both a Radar Level Sensor and a Radar Velocity Sensor in one compact enclosure. These two radar sensors simultaneously and continuously measure water level and velocity. Using this continuous data plus cross-section information stored in the RQ-30, the RQ-30 is able to compute and output Discharge Data in real time and from the moment it is activated.

With the advanced ability to provide discharge data from the moment it is deployed, the RQ-30 begins to gather data at an unprecedented rate, not only providing accurate real-time level, velocity and discharge data, but laying the foundation for its advanced 'Machine Learning' feature to kick in. This ability to continuously measure level and velocity AND compute flow in real time, fires up the advanced pattern recognition feature of the RQ-30, accelerating the building of a highly reliable internal rating curve.

"I believe the RQ-30 has the ability to transform much of the way we collect and manage our streamflow."
Peter Ward, Founder/CEO - HSA/KISTERS group
A Radar that learns
At low flow rates, wind can create surface waves by accelerating or decelerating the water surface that can impact the accuracy of velocity and discharge measurements. This is especially so with wide, deep, slow moving rivers. Deep channels with a calm, glassy surface tend to pick up wind effects easily. 

To compensate for this and other environmental influences, the RQ-30 Radar incorporates an 'Advanced Machine Learning' feature that continuously builds an internal relationship between Level and Velocity. The more often a velocity or velocities are measured at a specific water level, the stronger the stage/discharge relationship for that specific level becomes.
Graph showing RQ-30's ability to remove wind noise ensuring data accuracy
The RQ-30 continues to measure and record the relationship between level and velocity and thus, the more often a value is "Learned", the stronger and more accurate the learning becomes. This gives the RQ-30 the amazing ability to eliminate wind and other environmental effects and provide accurate flow data even in challenging applications.
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This is not a test...I repeat... this is not a test!
In 2013 we officially introduced the Sommer RG/RQ family of velocity and discharge radars to the US market. Now only a few short years later - there are more than 6000 RG/RQ Radars in operation in 50+ countries around the world, including many now in the US. Sommer Messtechnik has refined and perfected non-contact velocity & discharge measurement technology and bring an unmatched level of innovation and expertise to this field. 

This advanced technology that allows velocity and discharge data to be collected from the moment a sensor is installed (without a stage discharge relation), is heralding in a sea change in a world where the need for real time discharge data is becoming ever more critical.  

Peter Ward
Founder/CEO
Hydrological Services America/KISTERS group