Flood Modelling Improvement in North Yorkshire with Geospatial River Surveys

This project involved surveying multiple river reaches across rural farmland, accessing privately owned land while maintaining positive stakeholder relationships can at times be a challenge. Conveniently large parts of the survey extent were covered by farmland, often under ownership of one farm. Landowners were contacted in advance and visited on site, all were very accommodating and we often saw them working in their fields as we surveyed.

Building relationships with landowners, although only for a short period of time, is vital for the success of survey projects. Talking with landowners our surveyors also get an insight into the local area and how the river interacts with its surroundings, often hearing of flooding events or interesting encounters with wildlife. Surveyors even managed to negotiate access permissions with a rather impressive highland cow!

Capturing precise data in areas with dense vegetation along riverbanks can often be a challenge for surveyors but on this occasion the mighty Trimble R12i, with tilt compensation, proved invaluable. It greatly sped up data collection and allowed us to survey in the dense vegetation that lined some of the banks. Investing in highly capable equipment is always a good decision and it is always appreciated by the site staff.