Automatic hydrometeorological telemetry network of Alberta

The planning of the Alberta Environment remote telemetry system began in 1974 and the first precipitation remotes were installed in early 1976. This system was designed to support four distinct subsystems: a) Air quality Monitoring Subsystem, b) Water Quality Monitoring Subsystem, c) Water Level Monitoring Subsystem, d) Water Level and Precipitation Subsystem. All of the Precipitation Subsystem and most of the Water Level Subsystem was designed and built by local firms to operate in extreme environment conditions. The specifications for the precipitation remotes stated that the equipment must operate in an environment between -40 degrees C and +55 degrees C, with relative humidities up to 99%. There are three distinct parts to the system. a) Automatic Collection of the Data; b) Transmission of the Collected Data; c) Receiving, Storing and Editing Data. The intention of this paper is to outline the system showing its present and future capabilities.