Onboard the BirdWatch Ireland CBS and I-WeBS Team…

CBS Newsletter 2021

Digital Nature is delighted to share that it is now up-and-running as part of the BirdWatch Ireland CBS and I-WeBS Team, under contract to the Irish National Parks and Wildlife Service.

The Countryside Bird Survey and Irish Wetland Bird Survey are national surveys that have been gathering important scientific data on bird populations in Ireland since the 1990s. Every year hundreds of professional and citizen scientists follow carefully designed survey protocols to gather data at hundreds of selected sites around the country. This valuable data allows trends in Irish bird populations to be established, and helps inform policy at national as well as European level.

Digital Nature is focusing on the IT aspects of these surveys, supporting the National Coordinators, Ecologists and Scientific Officers on the team with data capture, validation, loading, storage and analysis solutions. Some of these elements are introduced in the latest CBS newsletter published by BirdWatch Ireland.

Digital Nature is delighted to be playing a role in this important work.

Mayo ‘Dark and Wild’ Amenities

Mayo Dark and Wild Map Extract

Where might be suitable places to install amenities in County Mayo that could showcase biodiversity during the day, and the Mayo Dark Sky at night?

This was a question Digital Nature tackled during 2020. We are now delighted to be in a position to share the results publicly.

A Multi-Criteria Evaluation was performed to identify locations that met the following conditions:

  • near to a wildlife-rich or important habitat, such as open water, wetlands or estuaries
  • under Dark Sky, away from fixed and mobile sources of light pollution
  • near to an existing road, track or path for public accessibility and construction purposes
  • not located on sloped land – to facilitate ease of public access
  • not located near to busy roads (to minimize disturbance and light, noise and exhaust pollution)
  • not located where the view of the sky is obstructed by local terrain – e.g. by a nearby mountain

These criteria were converted into 6 geospatial constraints and 2 geospatial factors, with appropriate weightings assigned in consultation with Ecological experts, to identify the highest-scoring sites across the county. The presence of Designated Sites was carefully considered to highlight further those locations that are not formally designated.

Data from academic, state, European, NASA and voluntary sources were successfully transformed and analysed as part of this process.

We hope that the resulting map may be of some assistance to those interested in pursuing such amenities in County Mayo.

If you are wondering where might be the best places to locate something, why not Contact Digital Nature!

Exploring Data: All About Clane

The breadth of data published online is growing all the time, but it can be challenging to filter, process, combine and visualise in a way that the most valuable insights are revealed.

Digital Nature is delighted to demonstrate some of the insights that can be revealed from freely available information….using our local community – Clane in County Kildare – as an example.

First off we explore the nature of the Population of Clane and provide answers to questions such as

Population Density as per CSO Small Areas using Hex Bins
Population Density of Clane as per CSO Small Areas using Hex Bins
  • How many people live in the area?
  • Where do they live?
  • How does the population density vary across Clane?
  • What is the age profile of the population?
  • How does the age profile of Clane differ to the national age profile?

This type of analysis can help inform investment priorities for school and medical facilities, infrastructure providers, community groups, sports organizations and businesses.

A similar analysis could be performed for any location in Ireland, and more specific questions can be explored in depth.

We look forward to extending this analysis over time. If you have suggestions for future topics to explore, or any follow-on questions please Contact Digital Nature.

The Digital Nature door is open!

Digital Nature is delighted to announce that it is open for business as of Dec 8th.

If you have any geospatial analysis or GIS needs we would love to hear from you…please get in touch!

Sustainable Commute Modes in North Kildare

Digital Nature has published a high-level analysis of Census 2016 commuter data for North Kildare. It includes interactive maps that illustrate the adoption of sustainable modes of transport by commuters.

This type of analysis might be of interest to residents, community groups, boards of management of schools, public transport providers, and local authority planners and engineers.

Locations with relatively low uptake of sustainable modes of commute can be identified. Exploring Maynooth, for example, the data reveal a small area very near to schools and universities yet where the amount of people sustainably commuting is very low. At the time of the census, it turns out that residents in that part of the housing estate had to travel a very circuitous route to and from their homes until construction of the estate was completed.

These maps can be used to select areas for deeper analysis, and prioritise possible interventions to increase the amount of commuting via sustainable modes of transport.

Sets of maps are provided for both the commute to school or college, and the commute to work.

New Updates Page!

Updates from Digital Nature will be shared here. Stay tuned!