Hmm. Well, upside is that the monitoring equipment itself would probably be very simple. Many ways to make it happen, I believe. One of the lowest-tech/cheapest could just be a small reservoir with two electrical contacts in it, and as long as water is flowing or has flowed within a certain amount of time (calculate volume required and orifice size for drawdown time), a circuit is closed sending a simple 0/1 signal. Fancier, and likely still very inexpensive option exist for the monitor itself. Hopefully sunlight is something you could count on out there for a small PV cell and battery for power. The satellite transmitter is something I know nothing about, though I imagine that is also a fairly simple thing. I have no idea at all about cost of either equipment or service required. And, sorry I can only offer the general thoughts, rather than any direct experience or component/process specifications. Here's a thought: Check out EnviroDIY, WikiWatershed, and the Stroud Water Research Center. While this is geared toward water quality, water presence/quantity is also something involved in most monitoring projects. I don't know whether the transmitter systems are geared only toward cellular (GSM/CDMA) or also have satellite options, but there's a lot of information, and undoubtedly a community of people who know a heck of a lot more than I do about this stuff. https://www.envirodiy.org/
Published by Ari Daniels, Water Resources Engineer
Hmm. Well, upside is that the monitoring equipment itself would probably be very simple. Many ways to make it happen, I believe.
One of the lowest-tech/cheapest could just be a small reservoir with two electrical contacts in it, and as long as water is flowing or has flowed within a certain amount of time (calculate volume required and orifice size for drawdown time), a circuit is closed sending a simple 0/1 signal. Fancier, and likely still very inexpensive option exist for the monitor itself. Hopefully sunlight is something you could count on out there for a small PV cell and battery for power.
The satellite transmitter is something I know nothing about, though I imagine that is also a fairly simple thing. I have no idea at all about cost of either equipment or service required.
And, sorry I can only offer the general thoughts, rather than any direct experience or component/process specifications. Here's a thought:
Check out EnviroDIY, WikiWatershed, and the Stroud Water Research Center. While this is geared toward water quality, water presence/quantity is also something involved in most monitoring projects. I don't know whether the transmitter systems are geared only toward cellular (GSM/CDMA) or also have satellite options, but there's a lot of information, and undoubtedly a community of people who know a heck of a lot more than I do about this stuff.