Real-Time River Monitoring Dashboard
Empowering communities with live environmental data and automated public safety updates
Project Overview
This public-facing platform provides real-time water, weather, and safety updates by aggregating environmental data from multiple government sources. The system processes data into clear status indicators, triggers automated alerts, and broadcasts updates across social media channels - helping residents, outdoor enthusiasts, and visitors stay informed about conditions and safety. We engineered a complete data pipeline from government APIs to public dashboards to automated social posts.
Skills Applied
The Challenge
Raw government environmental data is scattered across multiple sources, updated at different intervals, and presented in formats that require interpretation. The public needed a single source of truth that translates complex gauge readings into actionable safety information. Beyond the web dashboard, reaching users where they already are - social media - was essential for maximum impact. The system needed to operate autonomously, processing data and publishing updates around the clock without manual intervention.
Our Solution
We built an automated data pipeline that pulls water level, flow rate, and temperature data from USGS and weather data from NOAA every 10 minutes. Redis caching ensures fast reads while background jobs process the raw data into human-readable safety indicators with color-coded thresholds. The frontend displays real-time dashboards with trend charts and forecasts. Automated schedulers format and publish 3-6 social media updates daily using Twitter API v2 and Instagram Graph API - complete with condition icons, hashtags, and dashboard links. Email and SMS alert systems notify subscribers of significant condition changes.
Technical Stack
The technologies and tools we used to build this solution
Frontend
Backend
APIs & Libraries
Infrastructure
Key Features Implemented
Core functionality and technical implementations
Live Data Dashboard
Real-time display of water level, flow rate, temperature, and safety status with automatic 10-minute refresh cycles.
Safety Indicator System
Color-coded Safe/Caution/Danger alerts based on threshold logic applied to live gauge readings.
Forecast & Trend Visualization
Interactive charts showing 72-hour historical data and short-term predictions for condition planning.
Automated Social Broadcasting
Scheduled posts to Twitter and Instagram featuring current conditions, forecasts, icons, and dashboard links.
Email & SMS Alerts
Subscription-based notification system that sends safety alerts when conditions change significantly.
Mobile-Optimized Design
Responsive interface optimized for outdoor mobile viewing with clear typography and fast load times.
Results & Impact
What this project achieved
- Delivered accurate, timely environmental data to the community 24/7 without manual intervention
- Automated 3-6 daily social media posts reaching thousands of followers consistently
- Reduced data latency to under 10 minutes from source to public display
- Improved public safety awareness with clear, actionable status indicators
- Achieved high reliability through caching, error handling, and monitoring
- Extended platform reach through automated multi-channel social broadcasting
Related Case Studies
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