Winners of Geovation’s Diffuse Coastal Pollution Challenge scoop £5,000 each

Diffuse coastal pollution causes significant damage to the coastal environment and is extremely problematic for marine ecosystems. But its consequences are felt far beyond the coastline, impacting human health and the food chain, so it’s vital that sustainable and long-term solutions are identified.

Geospatial data, in combination with other data sources like satellite data or maritime data can act as a more accurate identification tool. As well as being able to show the pathways and routes of pollution over land areas to coastal areas, it also demonstrates the impact of pollution on coastal areas.

The event

The final challenge pitches and winners' event took at the Geovation Hub in London where all four finalists, Seaswirl, GlobalTrust, Satsense Solutions and UpDownstream pitched their ideas to an audience and judges. After careful deliberation GlobalTrust and Satsense Solutions were awarded joint winners of the challenge and received £5,000 each in prize money.

GlobalTrust’s solution uses satellite data and a geo-temporal platform built on datacube architecture to identify environmental degradation and pollution in coastal areas which derive from diffusive pollution factors. They are currently developing a machine learning algorithm to identify the presence of pollution indicators, which will then issue an alert.

Estel Blay, Senior Business Development Manager of GlobalTrust said: “GlobalTrust is proud to be the winner of the latest Geovation Challenge. Our team worked hard to identify a present space-based innovative solution to tackle diffuse coastal pollution.

“The discussions with organisations such as the UK Hydrographic Office, Ordinance Survey and Geovation sparked new ideas for further development of our solution. We would like to thank the organisers and sponsors for their support and their belief in us.”

GlobalTrust shared the honours with Satsense Solutions, whose solution makes use of two key concepts, namely, Satellite-based Water Quality Assessment and a Watershed Approach. These will identify problematic areas that contribute excessive amounts of sediment, nutrient and pollutant loads and suggest best land management practices to mitigate these discharges.

Nikhil Pasari, Co-founder and Head of Business Development at Satsense Solutions said: “Winning the Geovation Challenge is a proud moment for us and the recognition from Geovation, Ordnance Survey and the UK Hydrographic Office will help bring to life a valuable and sustainable solution to tackle the problems of diffuse coastal pollution.

“We look forward to forging relations with participants in the UK water sector to benefit the planet and people.”

Carly Morris, Head of Geovation, said: “First of all, I’d like to thank all the finalists for providing tremendous pitches. It was a really difficult decision for everyone on the judging panel.

“At Geovation we believe that start-up solutions can have a positive impact on people and the planet, and this was encapsulated by all four finalists.

“I’m sure the prize money will help Satsense Solutions and GlobalTrust build on what they have already accomplished and continue to provide sustainable solutions to some of our biggest challenges.”

Mark Casey, Head of Research, Design and Innovation at UKHO said “I was really impressed with the innovative ideas the finalists had developed to tackle the problematic issue of diffuse coastal pollution.

“The teams had deployed the use of different data sets in varying ways in order to develop sound, sustainable solutions. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all the finalists and hearing their pitches, subsequently I look forward to observing the teams as they continue to evolve their ideas and test out their solutions.”

Future challenges

Geovation is currently planning future challenges on coastal issues such as coastal erosion and plastic pollution. You can stay up to date with the upcoming challenges through the Geovation website.