LIMPIDS Project

Linking Improved Modelling of Pollution to Innovative Development of Sensors

This is an interdisciplinary project involving chemists, engineers and environmental modellers from the Universities of Reading and Hull, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the Environment Agency. It is Funded by EPSRC grants EP/G019967/1 (Reading) and EP/G014221/1 (Hull).

Current computer models have severe limitations in predicting future trends in water quality: for instance, different models may be equally good at explaining the present situation, but may produce very different predictions when run into the future. One way to develop improved models is to incorporate into them a better understanding of environmental processes which can be achieved through making more detailed environmental measurements. This in turn requires the development of innovative methods of measurement.

The focus of this project is to take advantage of recent developments in analytical science to develop a system for making high-frequency chemical measurements in lakes and rivers which will be cheaper, more reliable under field conditions, and have low power and reagent consumption. This should make it possible to collect much more detailed data, which can then be used to develop improved predictive models, possibly requiring quite new approaches.

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