Our results and reputation have been shaped by years of experience, industry knowledge and long-standing relationships. But with changing regulations, climate responsibilities and reputational concerns, our clients are looking for more.
We’ve taken on the challenge, developing innovative tools and award-winning solutions. Our technology innovations have solved specific problems, helped predict possibilities and allowed our clients to see the big picture. Find out more below:
Technology
WILDetect employs Machine Learning and Reinforcement Learning techniques to segment, split and count birds and can be applied to other species and man-made maritime objects, to benefit the entire environmental modelling community
Technology
WILDetect uses Machine Learning and Reinforcement Learning techniques to segment, split and count birds, and can be applied to other species and man-made maritime objects. Signalling a new direction for the detection of species, WILDetect enables the classification of multispecies even if there is a strong resemblance between them, and is expected to benefit the entire environmental modelling community.
Repetitive surveying of very large areas can have huge financial and time costs. WILDetect proposes a new supervised Machine Learning (ML) approach supported by Reinforcement Learning (RL) enabling user-model-data interaction that can detect, split and count birds, in an automated decision-making way with high accuracy rates.
The automatic classification of maritime ecosystems based on a variety of species will be in our future plans to support all types of environmental models with near-real-time information with multiple species.
WILDetect can be primarily deployed by environmentalists, researchers, authorities, and policymakers to monitor the marine ecosystem for fulfilling their goals effectively.
Technology
Best practice innovation to accurately measure bird flight heights for offshore wind. Ultra-high resolution surveys provide permanent data for quality assurance and risk and population modelling
Technology
Natural England, the UK’s nature and conservation body, recently endorsed APEM's use of LiDAR for the accurate measurement of bird flight heights in their best practice advice. When LiDAR data is gathered alongside our ultra-high resolution surveys, we can use the data to accurately measure the flight heights of seabirds and gain a better understanding of avian interactions with wind turbines.
Aerial surveys are the preferred way to gather data for offshore wind, due to the lack of disturbance (or attraction) compared with boat-based surveys, lack of observer bias, and accessibility by being able to fly above wind farms and covering the whole area. There is an inherent cost advantage for our clients too: by covering large areas in a single flight, we gather permanent data that can be revisited in the future if the developer’s needs change.
LiDAR data gathered during our flights will contribute to a standardised set of flight height data that can be used in all phases of offshore wind development for many years to come.
Software
SRO Aquatic INNS Risk Assessment Tool: an award-nominated software innovation. Helping the water industry measure the future and current impact of invasive species
Software
Water companies are working together and with third parties on nationally-important SRO projects, so they need robust, quantifiable and transferrable data. SAI-RAT sets the benchmark for best practice in INNS assessment, with quantitative risk scoring that facilitates auditability and transparency.
INNS cost the economy an estimated £2 billion per year. The tool facilitates risk-based prioritisation of actions and cost-effective resource allocation. SAI-RAT has filled a key requirement set out by Ofwat as part of RAPID to ensure the environmental impact of each SRO is adequately appraised to a consistent standard, ensuring they are the best value for the environment.
APEM’s SAI-RAT tool is being used by clients in the water industry for all SROs in addition to investigating risk of assets and RWTs for a number of water companies.
Data and Analytics
To comply with new impact assessment guidance for the Environment Agency, SCOUR helps water companies assess the risk of scour releases upon water courses downstream of reservoirs
Data and Analytics
To reduce flood risk, water companies and reservoir owners must prove that they can quickly reduce (or draw down) the water levels in the reservoir. Testing reservoir drawdown, or scour testing, can involve a short “dry” test or fully opening and closing an outlet valve, releasing large volumes of water into the watercourse.
Scour testing requires consent from the Environment Agency, as it can have a range of environmental impacts. These might include an increase in downstream flow rates, an impact on valuable river gravels which can be important spawning habitat for salmonids and lampreys, the discharge of fine or polluted sediment from the reservoir bottom which may suffocate the river bed downstream, discharge of water from the bottom of the reservoir that may have low dissolved oxygen or be substantially warmer or cooler than the river water downstream, and the release of fish from the reservoir which may be different from the fish living downstream.
Using the scour assessment tool to provide a high level risk assessment, reservoir owners can submit a request to the Environment Agency to continue to make scour releases every 6 months, which are required by law for reservoir safety. This innovative tool also helps reservoir owners prioritise mitigation action or further investigation, where needed.
Software
Used by water companies, consultants and regulators to use to assess and predict the ecological impacts of current and future water abstraction and drought
Software
APEM were commissioned by the Environment Agency to package and improve the existing code for assembling, processing and analysing ecological monitoring and river flow data. Large financial investments will be required to protect ecosystems and services in freshwater and wetland habitats, and this toolkit helps quantify links between water resource pressures and ecology.
Developing and applying hydro-ecological models requires specialist programming skills and can be a laborious and time-consuming process. The Hydro-Ecology Toolkit makes this process more accessible and more efficient by streamlining and automating the process of assembling, processing and analysing ecological monitoring and river flow data.
Technology
A digital-first, super-sized, high resolution survey that allows a user to ‘virtually’ drive or fly through an area from their desktop
Technology
One H2OVER® survey can capture an area in excess of 200km2 in one flight, saving time and money compared to foot surveys and providing visibility into inaccessible or remote areas. H2OVER® has been used by our clients in the water, infrastructure and construction industries for catchment mapping, leakage detection, pollution source mapping, environmental assessments and route proving.
The resulting data are used to produce high-resolution imagery up to 1.5cm GSD and interactive models for stakeholder engagement. This digital resource can be modelled to show how habitats and areas will evolve over a season or longer, reducing the need for further site visits.