Evaluation of Water Level in Flowing Channels Using Ultrasonic Sensors

Monitoring flow in channels is difficult, expensive, and potentially dangerous; hence, alternatives minimizing these factors are sought and indirect methods to measure the flow based on water-level information, among others, are employed. Ultrasonic sensors along with Arduino are widely used to monitor levels in reservoirs; however, the accuracy of this method in turbulent flow regimes has not been evaluated. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the level of open channel flows using a combination of Arduino and ultrasonic sensors whilst considering turbulence. Additionally, we statistically compared the simultaneous measurements of levels obtained using five ultrasonic sensors with those of five rulers filmed individually along an artificial channel, for four permanent and two transient regimes. The results showed that the errors in measurements increased with increasing turbulence. These errors were within the range of hydraulic measurements (