Field Trial of a Low-Cost Sensor Network for Hydrometeorological Monitoring of Water Pans and Small Dams in Kenya

Abstract

Water pans and small dams play a vital role in supplying domestic water in rural regions characterised by seasonal rainfall regimes, with increasing importance as a climate change adaptation measure. Despite their small individual size, the collective impact of numerous water pans is significant. Commercially available monitoring systems are often too costly to be justified for these decentralised infrastructures, resulting in limited data availability that impedes detailed studies aimed at improving their performance. Here, we developed a low-cost monitoring station network that measures water level (JSN-SR04T ultrasonic sensor), precipitation (3D-printed tipping-bucket gauge), and air temperature and humidity (DHT22 sensor). Each station costs less than 12,000 KES (≈93 USD in March 2026), making it suitable for such decentralised multi-site monitoring. A field trial conducted from June to November 2025 at four water pans in the Kakia-Esamburmbur Catchment, Kenya, compared the collected data with an automatic weather station and manual observations. Water level measurements were more accurate than manual reference readings, while air temperature showed biases of 1.4 to 1.8 °C. Precipitation data were largely inaccurate due to inadequate sensor levelling. Overall operational reliability reached 83%, indicating potential for improvements to reduce maintenance efforts and fully exploit the advantages of its low-cost hardware.