SMART training session 2025

Sensors capable of accurately measuring water level exist on the market, but they are generally expensive, fragile and ill-suited to the aggressive conditions encountered in rivers, particularly in the inter-tropical zone. A self-contained, float-controlled water level gauge based on visible laser Time-of-Flight (ToF) technology, designed as an integrated device for automatically measuring and recording water level data (Pierret et al., 2025), was developped as part of the Work Package 5 of the ANR DinBuam project. The focus of this first PSF SMART training session, funded by IRD, hosted by Alain Pierret and Khampasith Chanthavong, and held at the SMART station in Ban Laksip, Lao PDR, from October 27 to 31, was to introduce participants to the construction, deployment and use of this ad hoc technology. The training session brought together about 20 participants from Lao PDR, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Philippines, and Vietnam.

Laboratory work at SMART station and fieldwork at Houay Pano catchment