River ecosystem mapping
We are currently developing a complete solution for surveying, visualizing and analyzing data about riverbed ecosystems. Our service provides an unparalleled amount of data from a single survey, including:
- topography of the riverbed and the surrounding coastline
- stream speeds
- depth
- water temperature
- data for environmental classification of surveyed riverbed segments
This data is visualized in a comprehensive 3d model that enables:
- in-depth analysis of current environment conditions
- visualizing and evaluating measures to improve the ecosystem conditions and achieve compliance with environmental policies.
Comparing data from periodical surveys enables a precise and in-depth analysis of the effects of earlier deployed measures.
Our solution makes it significantly easier for owners and operators of hydro plants to gather data about the effects of the plant operations on river ecosystems and create cost-efficient solutions to achieve compliance with local and EU laws regarding environmental protection and biodiversity preservation.
Benefits
Cost-effective and accurate
Our method of surveying river ecosystems- airborne hydrography with LiDAR systems – is cheaper and significantly more accurate than alternative approaches such as employing sonars or human divers.
Minimal disruption of operations
Surveying of the river is done from air – unlike when employing human divers or sonar systems, no adjustments to power plant operations are necessary.
Superb decision support
The 3d models of the coastal and riverbed conditions are a valuable aid to understanding ecosystem conditions and analysis of efficiency of existing and potential measures to preserve and improve fish habitats. Planned measures can be included in the model and evaluated directly.
Our solution makes it significantly easier for owners and operators of hydro plants to gather data about the effects of the plant operations on river ecosystems and create cost-efficient solutions to achieve compliance with local and EU laws regarding environmental protection and biodiversity preservation.
Technology

HawkEye™ – a combined airborne bathymetric and topographic multi sensor LiDAR system.
Scienvisic uses an airborne LiDAR system to scan the river bed and the surrounding coastline and generate data in form of a point cloud. Thermography can be used to gather additional information about the temperature conditions in the river.
The data is then processed and used to generate a 3d model of the scanned environment. The model provides information about composition of the river bed – e.g. mud, stones, sand – as well as environmental conditions and composition of the surrounding coastline.
The model is a valuable tool to aid decision making and to predict and evaluate the efficiency of planned and deployed measures to preserve and improve fish habitats in the river.