A new patent developed at the University of Iowa’s Hydroinformatics Lab promises to transform how water levels are measured, offering a reliable and affordable solution for communities worldwide.

The invention by Ibrahim Demir, the director of Hydroinformatics Lab, and Yusuf Sermet, associate research professor, combines cameras and standard sensors to compute liquid surface elevations of streams, rivers, and reservoirs.

"This innovative water level measurement technology empowers communities to anticipate and respond to flooding with unprecedented accuracy, while significantly reducing the costs of monitoring rivers and protecting lives and livelihoods," Demir said.

Demir, who joined the faculty at Tulane University in January, served as faculty advisor while Sermet was completing a PhD. Both are members of UI’s IIHR - Hydroscience & Engineering.

"By reducing both costs and installation requirements, this method empowers communities worldwide—including underserved or remote locations—to achieve more robust monitoring, better resiliency to floods, and improved environmental decision-making at regional to national levels,” Sermet said.

This method empowers communities to achieve more robust monitoring, better resiliency to floods, and improved environmental decision-making.

Securing the patent formalizes and protects their intellectual property, allowing them to share their methodology with stakeholders such as public institutions, private companies, and research groups. The patent strengthens their position to attract partnerships and funding for broader-scale implementations, ensuring further advances from this technique benefit communities relying on accurate, low-cost water level data.

The idea of the technology began in 2016 when Demir and Sermet recognized the need for a more cost-effective and accessible stream-stage sensor. They identified several novel computational approaches and started validating the concept through prototypes and real-world trials. Over the past four to five years, they refined the technology through various research efforts, conference presentations, and journal publications.

Looking ahead, Demir and Sermet are discussing the best path forward for their patent. They are collaborating with research agencies like the United States Geological Survey and National Science Foundation, as well as other governmental bodies, to roll out the technology in areas that urgently need low-cost flood or drought monitoring solutions. While they aren't immediately launching a separate company, they are open to future commercialization or spin-out ventures if that best serves the people and regions that need reliable water-level data the most.