SCADA System

A computer system for obtaining and evaluating data in real time is Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. SCADA systems are used in the transportation, energy, water and waste management, telecommunications, and oil and gas refining sectors to monitor and control a plant or piece of equipment. Gathering data, like the location of a pipeline leak, transferring it back to a central location, notifying the home station of the leak, performing any necessary analysis and control, like figuring out whether the leak is critical, and presenting the data logically and orderly are all done by a SCADA system. SCADA systems range in complexity from extremely simple—like the monitoring of a small office building’s environmental conditions—to very complex—like the monitoring of a nuclear power plant’s entire activity or the operation of a municipal water system.