High-Frequency Millimeter-Wave Radar Level Gauge: Precise Hydrological Monitoring

Leading Precise Hydrological Monitoring: NiuBoL High-Frequency Millimeter-Wave Radar Level Gauge

In modern water conservancy projects and smart city construction, real-time and precise water level data is the core of flood prevention and disaster reduction, water resource scheduling, and environmental monitoring. Relying on leading millimeter-wave RF technology, NiuBoL has launched a new generation FMCW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) radar level gauge operating at 76-81GHz. With its non-contact measurement, high precision, and extremely strong environmental adaptability, this sensor is becoming the preferred solution for industrial-grade hydrological monitoring.

Core Technology Analysis: Why Choose 80GHz High-Frequency Radar?

Compared with traditional 26GHz radar or ultrasonic sensors, NiuBoL radar level gauge has significant technological leaps:

• Narrower Beam Angle: The antenna beam angle of this product is only 6°, with more concentrated energy. This means that when side-mounted on bridges, in narrow channels, or installed near shores, it can effectively avoid side wall interference and only lock onto the water surface signal.

• Higher Measurement Resolution: Based on 76-81GHz broadband FM technology, the radar has larger sweep bandwidth, capable of identifying subtle water level changes with measurement accuracy up to ±1mm.

• Extremely Small Blind Zone: The self-developed CMOS millimeter-wave RF chip controls the blind zone within 10cm. Even when the water level approaches the full range of the sensor at high water levels, it can still maintain stable output.

Excellent Features of Radar Level Gauge Product

Self-Developed CMOS Chip and Lean Architecture

NiuBoL radar level gauge has built-in self-developed CMOS millimeter-wave RF chip. This highly integrated RF architecture achieves higher signal-to-noise ratio. Even in complex water surface fluctuations (such as wind waves and raindrop disturbances), it can accurately extract echo data, ensuring the authenticity and effectiveness of the data.

Integrated Lens Design

The product appearance adopts a delicate integrated lens structure, which not only reduces the volume (convenient for installation on poles, cross arms, or under bridges) but also improves protection capability. This design can effectively prevent the impact of condensed water and dust deposition on the beam, reducing long-term maintenance costs.

Extremely Low Power Consumption and Long-Term Operation

In response to the current situation where most field hydrological stations use solar power, NiuBoL has specially optimized the circuit design. Its maximum power consumption is only 0.2W, combined with wide voltage DC10-30V power supply, greatly improving the system's endurance in rainy weather and extending the overall service life of the equipment.

Technical Parameter Table of Radar Level Gauge

Widely Used Application Scenarios of Radar Level Gauge

NiuBoL radar level gauge is widely used in the following fields due to its non-contact, corrosion-resistant, and anti-interference characteristics:

1. Rivers, Lakes, and Reservoir Monitoring
   In long-range monitoring of large rivers, radar level gauge is not affected by air density, temperature, or steam. Its up to 70m range can easily handle deep reservoir dam front water level monitoring. Even during floods, non-contact measurement avoids damage from floating objects.

2. Smart Farmland Irrigation and Channel Control
   In open channels, irrigation districts, and main channels, water level data is key to calculating flow. NiuBoL sensor's 6° narrow beam is very suitable for side wall installation in narrow channels, unaffected by weeds or channel edge obstacles, assisting precise irrigation.

3. Urban Flooding and Underground Pipe Networks
   For flood-prone points such as under urban overpasses, tunnel entrances, and manholes, the equipment can be installed with poles or cross arms. Its compact size and IP67 protection level make it capable of working in humid and dark underground spaces.

4. Mountain Flood Warning and Geological Disaster Monitoring
   In remote mountainous stream monitoring, due to steep terrain, radar level gauge bracket installation greatly simplifies construction difficulty. Low power consumption enables long-term connection to RTU/gateway via 4G/5G network for data reporting, gaining valuable time for disaster prevention and reduction.

Installation and Commissioning Guide for Radar Level Gauge

To ensure measurement result accuracy, NiuBoL recommends following these steps during installation:

Core Principles Before Installation

• Verticality Guarantee: Must ensure the instrument's beam emission direction is perpendicular to the water surface to be measured. Any obvious tilt will cause echo signal amplitude reduction or even prevent the sensor from receiving signals normally.

• Avoid Interference Sources: Within the beam angle coverage range (calculate cone radius based on installation height), there should be no obstacles such as riverbank protrusions, pipes, beams, etc., to avoid generating false echoes.

Recommended Steps

• Bracket Fixing: Install the sensor on the NiuBoL standard bracket to ensure a firm structure that will not produce significant swing due to strong wind.

• Wiring Connection: Connect RS485 signal lines according to the manual. Red is power positive, black is power negative, yellow and blue (or green) are 485_A and 485_B respectively.

• Data Verification: Read real-time data through RS485 interface and compare with manual measured water level to confirm zero point calibration accuracy.

FAQ

Q1: Will the radar level gauge be affected during heavy rain?
A: Basically not. NiuBoL radar operates in the 80GHz high-frequency band with FMCW processing algorithm having extremely strong penetration, capable of filtering out stray signals caused by raindrops, ensuring stable water surface measurement values.

Q2: Does the product support connection to existing monitoring systems?
A: Yes. The product adopts standard RS485 output and supports Modbus RTU protocol. This enables seamless connection with RTU, PLC, DTU, and various smart water affairs IoT platforms on the market.

Q3: Why is 6° beam angle better than 24°?
A: Narrower beam angle means more concentrated energy. In complex installation environments (such as beside bridge piers or narrow channels), 6° beam can effectively avoid interference from walls, making installation position selection more flexible.

Q4: Does the equipment require regular lens cleaning?
A: NiuBoL adopts integrated lens design with certain self-cleaning capability. Unless in extremely dusty environments or water mist containing large amounts of oil, generally no frequent maintenance is needed.

Q5: The product range can reach 70m, will short-distance measurement have errors?
A: No. Our CMOS chip supports dynamic gain adjustment, maintaining ±1mm high precision across 0.1m to 70m, with blind zone only 10cm.

Summary

NiuBoL 76-81GHz radar level gauge is an important tool in the field of hydrological measurement. It not only overcomes the disadvantages of ultrasonic being easily affected by environmental interference and submersible level gauges being susceptible to sediment deposition and corrosion, but also pushes measurement accuracy to millimeter level through high-frequency millimeter-wave technology.

Whether you are building smart irrigation districts, developing urban flood control systems, or conducting real-time monitoring of deep reservoir water levels, NiuBoL can provide you with professional water level monitoring solutions with high reliability and low maintenance cost. Choosing NiuBoL means choosing precision and stability.