Under the supervision of Dr. Ratish Menon a group of students of SCMS School of Engineering & Technology of Kochi, India,  has started their measurement campaign on a river diversion scheme with NIVUS sensors.

During the three weeks of his visit in the NIVUS headquarters in Eppingen Dr. Menon gained new experience while using NIVUS measurement systems. The objective was that Dr. Menon is able to pass on what he has learned to his students.

SCMS is a private university which does not receive any financial aid from the state. This makes it possible for the institute,a partner university of University of Applied Sciences Ravensburg-Weingarten in Germany, to benefit from partial funding by implementing measurement campaigns in India.

The local irrigation authority is exclusively depending on manual measurements for calculating the flow so far and thus showed great interest in the use of NIVUS measurement systems. The idea is to use these measurements along with the satellite remote sensing data of the command area to estimate the demand, supply and deficit for agricultural uses. This can improve the water distribution in the irrigation canal network and reduce misuse and overuse of  irrigation water.

It has great significance since, according to Dr. Menon’s statement, India is going to face the most severe drought in the history.