Cape May, N.J. gage station. Courtesy USGS.
The WaterAlert system from the USGS is useful new feature for professionals and public alike. Users can receive an e-mail or text message (hourly or daily) when selected parameters collected at USGS station exceed user-defined thresholds. Real-time data from the USGS gages is sent at various intervals, generally once every 1 to four hours to USGS offices. Notifications are based on the site dependent intervals for the data of interest.
Four data types can be subscribed and alerts sent for the following parameters depending on station:
Surface water: Discharge and Gage Height
Groundwater: Water Level, Below LSD (ft)
Water Quality: Temperature
Total Precipitation: 1, 2, 4, 6, 12, 24 hours
For each data type, the following threshold conditions can be set:
Threshold conditions:
- Greater than
- Less than
- Outside a range
- Inside a range
