Syracuse Sun

Elizabeth Carter, an assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering, has received a water resource grant from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to develop a sensor network that measures flooding.

After Hurricane Katrina struck the southern coastline of the United States in 2005, Carter went to the Gulf Coast to help with recovery efforts. This experience influenced her future research direction.

“It was pivotal a time in U.S. history. It exposed a lot of the ways that structurally our publicly funded infrastructure is shunting risk down socioeconomic gradients,” Carter says. “As a young person figuring out what I wanted to do in the world, I didn’t think I could walk away from something like that and retain my humanity.”

Carter pursued higher education and obtained degrees in soil science, environmental information science, and environmental engineering with a focus on water resources. Now an assistant professor at Syracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, she specializes in computational hydrology using satellite data to study water movement.

Carter and her team have been awarded a USGS grant for their Urban Flood Observing Network project. This sensor network aims to predict various types of flooding caused by natural disasters, particularly urban flooding.

“We’re hoping to build a sensor network for better urban flood response and labels for satellite images so they can map urban flooding everywhere,” says Carter.

Students from Syracuse University and Onondaga Community College have contributed to this project under Carter's guidance. Collaborators include professors Senem Velipasalar from electrical engineering and computer science, and Carlos Caicedo from the School of Information Studies.

“It’s been a great way to engage a lot of different students from different backgrounds and stages in their careers in hardware design, 3D printing, algorithm design, and photogrammetry,” Carter says.

Manu Shergill is leading the development of the sensor network since 2021. He started during his freshman year at OCC by assembling an initial version of the water sensor camera. Shergill has since worked on enhancing its features including higher-quality sensors and wireless communications.

“The next thing I’m tackling is a remote start function so we can trigger continuous data collection when a storm is moving into the area the sensor is monitoring,” Shergill says.

Carter hopes that USGS will install these networks where quick responses are crucial for managing flood events effectively.

“It’s been great to collaborate with different students on this project and make an impact on tackling natural disasters that are a result of climate change,” Carter says.