Hudson riverbed prepares for its close-up
They haven”™t gotten the shovel in the ground, but the Beacon Institute has found an eager technology partner to monitor the Hudson River”™s ebb and flow.
As part of IBM”™s Big Green Innovations, Dutchess County”™s largest employer will design and place a technology-based monitoring system along the 315-mile stretch of the Hudson River. A string of sensors, robotics and computers will be activated along the shoreline, giving scientists at the soon-to-be-built  Beacon Institute of Rivers and Estuaries an opportunity to monitor one of the world”™s most famous rivers in real time.
Discussions for the proposed collaboration began in summer 2006, according to Sharon Nunes, vice president of IBM”™s Big Green Innovations. “It”™s a way for IBM to work to solve environmental issues. In the context of the next few years, there will be a number of people working full time on this project at our Fishkill site.”
Partnering with universities, IBM focused on 10 technical projects. The River and Estuary Observation Network was born. It will allow for minute-to-minute monitoring of the Hudson.
John Cronin, former head of Riverkeeper who is now executive director of the Beacon Institute, says the technology will help predict environmental impacts. “With that technological capability, we can better understand the effects of global warming, the movements of migrating fish or the transport of pollutants. The implications for decision-making and education are staggering.”
Nunes declined to give IBM”™s specific financial contribution to the project but said the company planned to invest $100 million into information technology, not just in the Beacon Institute, but in alternative energy, bio-fuels and membrane technology for better water filtration.
“Our goal is to create an intelligent utility network, making the current electrical grid smarter: moving the analog grid into the high-tech world and looking at wind, solar, geothermal and hydrogen fuels as sources of energy,” said Nunes.
On a scale of one to 10, Nunes says, “This partnership with the Beacon Institute is a 15. I”™ve gotten e-mails from people around the world who want to be part of this initiative.”
IBM”™s Stream Computing system will capture data that will measure temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pollution loading, map fish population and track species through radio “tagging.”
The $40 million Beacon Institute is scheduled to break ground at Dennings Point in 2008, “but our collaboration is already in the works,” said Nunes. IBM will work as the Beacon Institute”™s IT provider. “Hopefully,” said Nunes, “the system will give us a view of what is going on all along the river and be able to track impacts on the river ”“ not just heavy rainstorms, but oil and gas runoff from the roads, the effects of fertilizers and how water treatment plants affect the Hudson.”
The end result, hope all involved, will be a cleaner, “greener” river for the 12 million people who live along the banks of the Hudson and the innumerable fish who live in it.
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