IBM is serious about harnessing technology to make the planet smarter, and with their large presence in New York State the Hudson River is a target for technology. IBM is working on the River and Estuary Observatory Network (REON) for a holistic view of the river. Here’s an excerpt from a paper in the IBM Journal of Research and Development:
Multiparameter and multiscale real-time environmental monitoring of a river and estuary system will be realized through the River and Estuary Observatory Network (REON) for the Hudson River in New York. The system incorporates a complex array of sensor technologies encompassing the physical, chemical, and biological measurement domains. REON supports Lagrangian, Eulerian, and autonomous robot sensor deployments, as well as flexible telemetry options through an open and consistent middleware architecture with advanced device management capabilities. Multimodal data streams are ingested and analyzed by an intelligent distributed streaming data analysis system known as System S. The challenges of managing high volumes of complex heterogeneous data are addressed via a distributed network of intelligent computational nodes that incorporate both autonomic algorithms and active knowledge management including a temporal component.
The project is being developed in partnership with the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries, a nonprofit scientific research organization.
