Scientists at the UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC) in Liverpool have used satellite data to create insight into the Mersey River that will help port operators be smarter about managing complex navigation
Scientists at the UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC) in Liverpool have used satellite data to create insight into the Mersey River that will help port operators be smarter about managing complex navigation channels.
Through a project focused on Liverpool’s famous river and funded by the UK Space Agency, NOC’s scientists showed that changes in areas exposed at low tide can be mapped from space.
The project, run in partnership with the Channel Coastal Observatory (CCO) and Peel Ports Group, means port operators could now pre-empt sand or mud moving and blocking their navigation channels, reducing larger remediation works.
It can be expensive and difficult to monitor an estuary of this size regularly enough to keep up with the continual changes in sandbank and channel positions using the standard survey methods that use survey boats or light aircraft. However, maintaining rivers like the Mersey, which handles more than 60 million tons of freight a year through Peel Ports Group, is important for safe and efficient port operations.
“Gaining an understanding of these areas is helping us to enhance the way we manage navigational safety and dredging strategies," said Russell Bird, Deputy Group Harbour Master (Hydrographic and Dredging), at Peel Ports
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