1001 Smart Cities
🇺🇸 New York City

FloodNet street-level flood sensors

🤖 AI-generated summary of the sources below · 🔎 Last verified · ◆ 14 sourced claims, none individually verified yet

This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.

How this atlas is made · What “last verified” means · What “source-checked” means · The full record behind this page

✎ Corrected 27 Aug 2026 Record revised. · 2 revisions in all What changed →

FloodNet is a network of low-cost ultrasonic sensors that measure street-level flood depth to within one inch every minute, transmitting over LoRaWAN or cellular to a free real-time public dashboard. Run by NYU, CUNY and City agencies since 2020, it passed its 400th solar-powered sensor in July 2026, and its open-source design has been copied in New Jersey, Rhode Island, Puerto Rico and Brazil.

Live 📅 since 2020
Outcome🔄 Ongoing
Evidence🔬 Peer-reviewed
what does this mean?The strongest source behind this entry is an independent peer-reviewed or academic study. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →
Run byNYU Tandon, CUNY & NYC agencies
Scale🏙️ City-wide
CostUnder $300 per sensor; hardware design files are open source on GitHub.
Funding$7.2M in city funding, working toward 500 monitored locations by 2028.

📊 Impact

Since October 2020 the network has recorded more than 2,400 flood events across all five boroughs, passing its 400th sensor in July 2026. NYC Emergency Management takes the feed in real time for situational awareness and to direct recovery efforts after a storm, and the National Weather Service's New York office uses it in flood warning decisions. A May 2026 storm registered nearly four feet of water in Hollis, Queens, conditions that went largely unnoticed in other parts of the city.

🎓 Lesson

Conventional flood monitoring watches rivers and tide gauges; before FloodNet the city had no quantitative real-time picture of street flooding and read it off 911 calls and social media instead. Measuring the water where people actually stand turned out to be the cheap part - under $300 a sensor, design files public - and the part others copied. What the record buys is a faster response and better flood maps, not less water.

🌱 EnvironmentFlood resilienceSensors & IoTLoRaWANSolar & PVOpen data

Sources

↗ FloodNet NYC (operator)Project site and free real-time public flood dashboard, including interactive views of past storms. A standing site with no publication date.
↗ NYU Tandon, 400-sensor milestone (research)Published 22 July 2026Milestone announcement from the lead institution: sensor count, flood events recorded, and which agencies use the feed.
↗ NYU Tandon, open-source design and adoption elsewhere (research)Published 25 July 2025Sensor specification and unit cost, the city funding total, the 500-by-2028 plan and the adoptions elsewhere.
↗ Mydlarz et al. 2024, Water Resources Research (peer-reviewed)Published 7 May 2024Peer-reviewed description and validation of the low-cost ultrasonic sensor design, published 7 May 2024.
↗ CUNY Graduate Center (authority)Published 27 January 2023Partner institution's announcement of the 7.2 million dollar city expansion award, dated 27 January 2023, which set the target of growing from 31 monitored locations to 500 over five years.
Show 1 more sourcesShow fewer
↗ NYC Open Data, FloodNet street flooding events (authority)The flood-event dataset itself, published openly through the NYC Open Data portal. A catalogue record that carries no publication date.

📅 How old is the evidence?

Two clocks, kept apart: when this entry’s sources were published, and what has happened to its record in the atlas. Documented span: since 2020. 4 of 6 sources carry a publication date, from 27 January 2023 to 22 July 2026.

When the sources were published

  1. CUNY Graduate Center · researchCUNY Graduate Center (authority)
  2. American Geophysical Union (Wiley) · researchMydlarz et al. 2024, Water Resources Research (peer-reviewed)
  3. NYU Tandon School of Engineering · researchNYU Tandon, open-source design and adoption elsewhere (research)
  4. New York University Tandon School of Engineering · researchNYU Tandon, 400-sensor milestone (research)

Every source, with links ↑

What happened to this record

  1. Entered the record
  2. Sources last read
  3. Record revised
  4. Publication date recorded for 6 sources

Every revision, permanent →

Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 14 claims with their sources · the forensic record

Evidence Passport · public beta 14 addressable claims, 6 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The passport is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.

Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 14

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-8d4be193e0b8496e descriptive
low-cost ultrasonic sensors that measure street-level flood depth to within one inch every minute, transmitting over LoRaWAN or cellular
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
NYU Tandon describes each sensor as using 'an industrial-grade ultrasonic range-finder that transmits inaudible sound waves to measure water depth to within one inch, collecting data every minute and transmitting it wirelessly over LoRaWAN or cellular networks'. The Water Resources Research paper is the peer-reviewed description of that design.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. NYU Tandon, open-source design and adoption elsewhere (research)
  2. Mydlarz et al. 2024, Water Resources Research (peer-reviewed)
Claim 2 clm-c878afb5e7cf0ae2 descriptive
a free real-time public dashboard
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
NYU Tandon: the team 'has made sensor design files open source on GitHub alongside its free public dashboard displaying real-time flood data'. The dashboard is the operator's own site.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. NYU Tandon, open-source design and adoption elsewhere (research)
  2. FloodNet NYC (operator)
Claim 3 clm-19284cab733a25fb quantitative
Run by NYU, CUNY and City agencies since 2020
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
NYU Tandon describes FloodNet as 'developed by NYU Tandon School of Engineering in partnership with the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC) and Brooklyn College', with government agencies using the data, and dates the first sensor to October 2020.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. NYU Tandon, 400-sensor milestone (research)
Claim 4 clm-2ceac8f0e6df5a7a quantitative
it passed its 400th solar-powered sensor in July 2026
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The July 2026 announcement states FloodNet 'has deployed its 400th sensor in New York City'; the 2025 piece establishes that the sensors are solar-powered and deployed independently of existing power infrastructure.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. NYU Tandon, 400-sensor milestone (research)
  2. NYU Tandon, open-source design and adoption elsewhere (research)
Claim 5 clm-a32dc1012ccf6c8d descriptive
its open-source design has been copied in New Jersey, Rhode Island, Puerto Rico and Brazil
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The 2026 announcement: 'The project's open-source sensor design has since been adopted by researchers in New Jersey, Rhode Island, Puerto Rico, and Brazil'. The 2025 piece describes the Puerto Rico deployment in detail.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. NYU Tandon, 400-sensor milestone (research)
  2. NYU Tandon, open-source design and adoption elsewhere (research)
Claim 6 clm-c6c873b238c4dc43 quantitative
Since October 2020 the network has recorded more than 2,400 flood events across all five boroughs
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
Verbatim: 'Since the first sensor was installed in October 2020, FloodNet has recorded more than 2,400 flood events at locations across all five boroughs.'
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. NYU Tandon, 400-sensor milestone (research)
Claim 7 clm-549b6754a55533e0 quantitative
passing its 400th sensor in July 2026
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The milestone announcement is dated 22 July 2026 and states FloodNet 'has deployed its 400th sensor in New York City'.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. NYU Tandon, 400-sensor milestone (research)
Claim 8 clm-62670a6a907b96f5 descriptive
NYC Emergency Management takes the feed in real time for situational awareness and to direct recovery efforts after a storm
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
Verbatim: 'NYC Emergency Management (NYCEM) receives FloodNet data in real time, using it for situational awareness and to direct recovery efforts in the hours after a storm.'
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. NYU Tandon, 400-sensor milestone (research)
Claim 9 clm-c1333994c862dfa3 descriptive
the National Weather Service's New York office uses it in flood warning decisions
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
Verbatim: 'The National Weather Service's New York office uses the data in flood warning decisions and storm impact cataloging.'
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. NYU Tandon, 400-sensor milestone (research)
Claim 10 clm-43ca080eac355af5 quantitative
A May 2026 storm registered nearly four feet of water in Hollis, Queens, conditions that went largely unnoticed in other parts of the city
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
Verbatim: 'During a May 20, 2026 storm, sensors recorded severe flooding concentrated in Central Brooklyn and South Queens, including nearly four feet of water in Hollis, Queens, conditions that went largely unnoticed in other parts of the city.'
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. NYU Tandon, 400-sensor milestone (research)
Claim 11 clm-481d2009e7cb3920 descriptive
Conventional flood monitoring watches rivers and tide gauges
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The 2026 announcement: 'Unlike most urban flood monitoring systems, which track waterways and tidal gauges, FloodNet sensors measure water depth directly on streets, sidewalks, and in low-lying areas'. The 2025 piece makes the same point about existing systems focusing on rivers and streams.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. NYU Tandon, 400-sensor milestone (research)
  2. NYU Tandon, open-source design and adoption elsewhere (research)
Claim 12 clm-afdc2313754dcf32 quantitative
before FloodNet the city had no quantitative real-time picture of street flooding and read it off 911 calls and social media instead
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
Verbatim: 'Before FloodNet, city agencies had no quantitative, real-time picture of where street-level flooding was occurring during a storm, relying instead on 911 calls and social media reports.'
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. NYU Tandon, 400-sensor milestone (research)
Claim 13 clm-88968771563b1fe5 quantitative
under $300 a sensor, design files public
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
NYU Tandon: 'At under $300 per unit, the sensors cost a fraction of traditional flood monitoring equipment', and 'The FloodNet team has made sensor design files open source on GitHub'.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. NYU Tandon, open-source design and adoption elsewhere (research)
Claim 14 clm-d9d062d643e39f81 descriptive
What the record buys is a faster response and better flood maps, not less water
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
Every use the sources document is downstream of the measurement: real-time situational awareness and recovery direction at NYCEM, flood warning decisions at the National Weather Service, and calibrating the stormwater flood maps the city must update at least every four years. None of them changes how much water arrives.
Caveat
This is the entry's summary of the uses the sources list, not a sentence any source writes. No source claims the network reduces flooding, and none reports that it does not.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. NYU Tandon, 400-sensor milestone (research)
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-08-27-correction-run-2 effective 2026-08-26 · created 2026-08-27

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:b2700def8288fdff339d77bdeb158c6e8813b419e6151fb5f1dd4d6cfd8f75a8
Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →
14
of 14 claims mapped
6
source dossiers
4
publication dates recorded
0
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
NYU Tandon, CUNY & NYC agencies
Actor types
research, city-government
Funding model
public
Funding description
$7.2M in city funding, working toward 500 monitored locations by 2028.
Cost
Under $300 per sensor; hardware design files are open source on GitHub.
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

6 source dossiers

FloodNet NYC (operator) floodnet.nyc · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-15094737c2ba3c37
Publisher
Name not classified · floodnet.nyc
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-26
Dossier created
2026-08-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Project site and free real-time public flood dashboard, including interactive views of past storms. A standing site with no publication date.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
NYU Tandon, 400-sensor milestone (research) engineering.nyu.edu · 11 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-58b934f8210dc37e
Publisher
Name not classified · engineering.nyu.edu
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-07-22
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-26
Dossier created
2026-08-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Milestone announcement from the lead institution: sensor count, flood events recorded, and which agencies use the feed.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
NYU Tandon, open-source design and adoption elsewhere (research) engineering.nyu.edu · 6 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-ca6c85666a1e70c8
Publisher
Name not classified · engineering.nyu.edu
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-07-25
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-26
Dossier created
2026-08-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Sensor specification and unit cost, the city funding total, the 500-by-2028 plan and the adoptions elsewhere.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Mydlarz et al. 2024, Water Resources Research (peer-reviewed) agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-45caaea2dfb2d997
Publisher
Name not classified · agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2024-05-07
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-26
Dossier created
2026-08-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Peer-reviewed description and validation of the low-cost ultrasonic sensor design, published 7 May 2024.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
CUNY Graduate Center (authority) gc.cuny.edu · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-e0dce313ce4b3996
Publisher
Name not classified · gc.cuny.edu
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2023-01-27
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-26
Dossier created
2026-08-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Partner institution's announcement of the 7.2 million dollar city expansion award, dated 27 January 2023, which set the target of growing from 31 monitored locations to 500 over five years.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
NYC Open Data, FloodNet street flooding events (authority) catalog.data.gov · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-cbc136219fe4a69c
Publisher
Name not classified · catalog.data.gov
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-26
Dossier created
2026-08-27
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

The flood-event dataset itself, published openly through the NYC Open Data portal. A catalogue record that carries no publication date.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Known limits of this passport
  • Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
  • Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
  • A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
  • The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.

Continue exploring

Compare this project

🇮🇳 Integrated Dynamic Flood Early Warning Platform · Chennai Flood watch, opposite methods: FloodNet measures live street-water depth (2020); Chennai forecasts ward inundation days ahead (2019). 🇬🇧 Breathe London Air-Quality Sensor Network · London Two open real-time environmental sensor networks: FloodNet maps NYC street flooding; Breathe London maps air quality across 33 boroughs. 🇫🇷 Seine Bathing-Water Sensing & Public Swimming Return · Paris Two automated urban water sensors: FloodNet measures street-flood depth (2020); Paris tests Seine bacteria daily to open bathing (2025).

Explore the wider context

📟 A Reading Is Not a Decision🌊 Flood resilience guide🏙️ New York City city profile🌱 Environment projects📖 Urban sensor network📖 Flood early-warning system📖 LoRaWAN
📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “FloodNet street-level flood sensors” — New York City, United States. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/nyc-floodnet/ (last verified 2026-08-26). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

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