(BlackburnMeda.ca file photo by Ryan Drury)(BlackburnMeda.ca file photo by Ryan Drury)
Midwestern

New Smart Beach pilot project launching this week

The Municipal Innovation Council (MIC) is launching the first-of-its-kind Smart Beach pilot project at Station Beach in Kincardine on Wednesday.

Community members are invited to attend the event beginning at 11:00 a.m., to engage with project team members and Dr. Chris Houser, the lead researcher behind the Smart Beach technology, to learn about what the project means for the community.

"Our research team is excited to get to work," says Dr. Chris Houser, Dean of Science and a professor in the School of Environment at the University of Windsor. "Over the next couple of months we'll be busy monitoring and modelling the waves and currents at Station Beach and the potential hazards to beach users."

The collaborative project will deploy an integrated sensor network that includes water level and wave sensors as well as traffic and pedestrian sensors.

Researchers will use the data collected to provide residents and visitors with highly accurate, real-time local beach forecasts on rip current locations, rough surf and dangerous areas to avoid.

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