Satellite radar mapping in Morecambe Bay

Here is something of relevance for us at Lancaster University, since it deals with Morecambe Bay which is just a few miles from us. TimesOnline reports how a new system of satellite radar mapping has been introduced to help search-and-rescue operations on the stretch of quicksand in Morecambe Bay where 23 Chinese cockle pickers drowned:

The initiative, sponsored by the University of Manchester, will offer emergency services a frequently updated electronic map of the bay’s constantly changing gulleys and channels. It is expected to lessen the dangers faced by rescuers and save lives on Britain’s largest expanse of inter-tidal mudflats. If the pilot scheme is successful, the system may be adopted by coastal rescue services around the world...

...Under the initiative, scientists will offer maps generated by satellite images to the Bay Search and Rescue, which operates from its base in Flookburgh, near Grange-Over-Sands, in Cumbria. Data beamed by the European Space Agency’s Envisat satellite to stations in Scotland, Sweden and Italy will be interpreted by a team at the national data centre at the University of Manchester.

Read full article - 'Rescuers will use satellite maps in bay where cockle pickers died'

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