Map Impact, the pioneering environmental services data provider, is delighted to confirm the choice of iconic Lake Windermere as the study site location for its UK Space Agency backed climate services project, and a collaborative partnership with the Save Windermere campaign organisation.
The project will use satellite earth observation tools, together with human activity data from anonymised cellular networks, to objectively and independently analyse how and why Lake Windermere suffers from poor water quality and continued pollution. As England’s largest freshwater body, this popular tourist destination is famed for its natural beauty and assets, which are increasingly threatened by the state of the lake and its sources – issues that have drawn continued national media attention.
The Bristol based business will work in close partnership with the Save Windermere campaign organisation, which brings an abundance of local knowledge and expertise into the project.
Map Impact CEO, Richard Flemmings, comments “The lack of evidence about the state of freshwater bodies in England is continuing to hamper protection and effective management. Novel data sources, such as satellites, offer an opportunity to independently monitor the state of lakes and rivers and how human activity is influencing these precious natural resources. This exciting project, funded by UK Space Agency, aligns closely with Map Impact’s principles of collaboration to bring forward objective data sources and apply them in new ways.”
Save Windermere Founder, Matt Staniek, comments “Windermere’s adaptability to climate change is compromised due to the absence of an action plan for long-term lake preservation. The major cause of Windermere’s decline is sewage contamination. This powerful project brings meticulous data-driven evidence collection, enabling us to quantify the impact of pollution on the quality of Windermere’s water. It will supply concrete evidence on the profound ecological impacts of sewage on our lake.”
The project runs from September 2023 through to March 2024 and will provide regular progress reports to the project sponsor and grant provider UK Space Agency. The project’s aim is to identify the issues and causes of catchment-wide freshwater degradation, together with proposing potential solutions for the future effective protection and management of freshwater resources.
