GUARDAVAL monitoring system

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The Canton of Valais natural hazard monitoring portal


Guardaval is a comprehensive IT platform for operational and synoptic monitoring of natural hazards (ground instabilities, floods, glacial hazards, meteorological hazards, debris flows, etc.) in the Valais.

For over 20 years, CREALP has been maintaining and developing this constantly evolving platform for the State of Valais, integrating more data and functionalities every day. Today, Guardaval integrates more than 70 data sources from different suppliers (e.g. MétéoSuisse, OFEV, SLF, MeteoGroup, NASA, ESA, and other specialized institutes or offices in addition to data acquired by CREALP). The origin, size and format of the data sets are highly heterogeneous. The platform manages the acquisition and thus provides a centralized point for visualizing a large number of environmental data sets in real time, as well as their history. These data include :

  • Precipitation
  • Temperature
  • Wind
  • Snow
  • Hydrometry
  • Webcams
  • Extensometers
  • GNSS
  • Soil moisture
  • Piezometry
  • Dams
  • Seismology
  • InSAR
  • etc.

On Guardaval, various spatio-temporal aggregation modes are available to visualize information (e.g. calculation of precipitation totals over hazard regions, communes, watersheds, etc. with statistics ranging, depending on user selection, from 5 minutes to several years), offering considerable flexibility to the platform’s various users.

Guardaval’s main features also include:

  • The addition of events to a cantonal event register by observers.
  • Indicators when thresholds are exceeded, data transmission interrupted, etc.
  • Configure SMS or e-mail notification of threshold exceedance for measurements or forecasts.
  • Configuration of monitoring stations and sites (even virtual ones, generated on the fly from spatialized data).
  • Tools for comparing stations and overlaying different data sources (e.g. comparing weather stations with COSMO products).
  • Data download via a public API for partners.
  • Coupling with a flood forecasting and warning system.
  • Management of different types of users and roles with different rights and access (natural hazard observers, administrators, hydro-meteorological watch operators, cantonal engineers).


GUARDAVAL SYSTEM STRUCTURE

The Guardaval system enables remote monitoring of automated measuring stations with teletransmission. These stations are equipped with various physical sensors (extensometric, meteorological, hydrometric, etc.). The current monitoring network comprises around a hundred measuring stations.

The system is based on a modular architecture and integrates various components: a central data acquisition unit, a data management and analysis module that enables alarms to be issued, and a Web consultation portal. These three components are underpinned by a business database that centralizes all information.

ACCESS TO GUARDAVAL

Any local authority can take advantage of Guardaval’s services by installing observation stations compatible with the system and signing a subscription contract with CREALP/Canton du Valais. Further information and access can be obtained at guardaval@admin.vs.ch.

GUARDAVAL Portal

Information

Project manager:

THEO BARACCHINI

THEO BARACCHINI
Spécialiste en assimilation de données et hydrologie opérationnelle



Project duration: 2003 – ongoing
Customer: Natural Hazards Service(SDANA) of the Canton of Valais
Link : guardaval.apps.vs.ch

Further information

Délèze, J. Y., Ornstein, P., & Rouiller, J.-D. (2005). GUARDAVAL: remote monitoring applied to natural risk management in alpine environments. Géoline, 1-7.

Ornstein, P., & Délèze, J. Y. (2007). GUARDAVAL: Automatic remote monitoring of hydro-meteo-extensometric stations with alarm generation. 1ère Rencontre Dangers, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Perret, J. (2022). Infrastructures routières: observation et évaluation des risques. Gestion du risque dans les infrastructures, Revue Tracés, March 2022.