THE Save Windermere campaign group has partnered with Map Impact and the UK Space Agency for a data collection programme studying the inputs into the lake. 

The project will be funded by the UK Space Agency through its Climate Services grant. 

It will examine all inputs of nutrients and pollution into Windermere, including land use, wastewater treatment works and septic tanks. Save Windermere claims that it will offer a catchment-wide view for freshwater management, using multiple data sources to provide an up-to-date picture of climate change and pollution impacts. 

The group says that this will help forecast future events and outbreaks and mitigate risks that threaten habitat biodiversity and human health. 

It also said that the data collected will allow the campaign to retrospectively examine the level of historical damage to the lake and determine the key contributing factors to this. 

Save Windermere links excessive nutrients entering Windermere with algal blooms, which can be toxic to humans and wildlife and can deplete oxygen levels in the water. 

In June 2023, the Freshwater Biological Association cautioned lake users against swimming because of an algal bloom. 

The project will specifically examine the concentration of chlorophyll-a in the lake using satellite data provided by the UK Space Agency and others. The satellite imagery will be used in conjunction with data from one of the UK's largest mobile networks, in which anonymised cellular data will be used to determine the number of people within the Windermere catchment at any given moment. 

READ MORE: Save Windermere calls to stop all sewage into Windermere

This will enable Save Windermere to quantify the pressure from human activity in the area and its impact on phosphorus concentrations in the lake, it says. 

Richard Flemmings, the chief executive officer of Map Impact, said: "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 lakes and rivers and determine how human activity is influencing these precious natural resources."

Dr Paul Bate, the chief executive of the UK Space Agency said: "The UK has a long history of expertise and innovation in Earth observation, developing satellites to collect increasingly detailed data and using that information to build services that help protect our planet.

"This targeted funding for early-stage innovations is all about supporting fresh ideas and accelerating the rollout of powerful new tools that have the potential to bring benefits to a wide range of users both within and beyond the space sector.”