Let’s go for a swim! Smart technology reveals where the water is warmest

In Kokkola, swimmers are served by a smart technology-based measuring system that provides real-time water temperature information from four beaches. The data is displayed online in easy-to-read figures and graphs, so it takes no time at all to choose the warmest swimming spot - even on your phone.

For several summers now, swimmers in Kokkola have been served by a real-time measuring system that provides water temperatures directly from four popular beaches. Whether you're a casual or active swimmer or planning a family beach day, you can check the water temperature on your mobile device before you go.

The measuring points are located at the beaches of Valkohieta, Bryggan in Öja, Meripuisto and Palma - exactly where people like to be by the water. Temperature data is displayed in easy-to-read values and clear graphs on a website that works smoothly also on your phone.

Swimming water temperatures can be found here: https://r.jyu.fi/uimavesien_lampotilat

Swimming water temperature measurement as part of smart city development

Real-time measurement of swimming water temperatures is part of a development by the Information Technology Unit of the Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius, which combines research, technology and practical benefits. This technological solution supports smart urban development and offers tangible benefits for both residents and the development of city services. At the same time, the university is able to test the reliability of different technologies and data transmission solutions under changing conditions.

The measurements are carried out using Digital Matter's smart SensorNode for LoraWAN IoT devices, which have been tested by the University Consortium and proven to be reliable even in winter conditions, for example at the Palma open-air swimming site. The devices transmit temperature data every half an hour over the LoRa-compatible IoT network provided by Digita, and the data is stored in raw form in the Microsoft Azure cloud.

Using various windowing functions, real-time events can be grouped according to a specific criterion (such as time or number of events) and processed as a set, which can be subjected to aggregation operations, for example. The raw data of temperature measurements are averaged over three hours and one day using the time-based tumbling windowing of Azure's Stream Analytics Job service, allowing not only real-time monitoring but also trend analysis.

The averaged temperature data is stored in Azure's database and visualised in a user-friendly way in different interfaces, such as the Grafana dashboard or the Svelte-based web application. This allows both researchers and ordinary users to easily monitor bathing water temperatures on their mobile or PC devices.

The real-time bathing water temperature measurement implemented by the Information Technology Unit of the Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius is one of the pilot projects of the Data-driven efficiency, productivity and competitiveness project.