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The Design of a Collaborative Social Network for Watershed Science

  • Conference paper
Geo-Informatics in Resource Management and Sustainable Ecosystem (GRMSE 2014)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 482))

Abstract

There is a strong and persistent demand amongst scientists, citizen scientists and the general public for hydrologic data such as NEXRAD imagery and stream gauge time-series. Despite this interest, basic analysis tools are available only through specialized scientific software that is accessible to a small cadre of users. Furthermore, hydrologic data, while highly available, has not been integrated in a single system and no system exists to facilitate collaboration for scientists, citizen scientists, and the general public. This paper presents the design of the Watershed Science Network which is a collaborative social network aimed at multiple user groups who are focused on hydrology and watershed science. More specifically, we present a lightweight system that can analyze large datasets quickly and efficiently, while allowing users to interact with one another and perform collaborative analysis. This online gathering spot will allow citizens to post photos of local conditions, data providers to post announcements to users, and field scientists to view station data in the field. Users of the system can subscribe to watersheds of interest and automatically receive updates of recent analysis, visualization, and discussion activity regarding the watershed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer and Information Sciences, Towson University, USA

    Michael P. McGuire

  2. Department of Geography and Environmental Planning, Towson University, 8000 York Rd, Towson, Maryland, 21252, USA

    Martin C. Roberge

Authors
  1. Michael P. McGuire
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  2. Martin C. Roberge
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Wuhan University, China

    Fuling Bian

  2. Institute for Geospatial Research and Education, Eastern Michigan University, 125 King Hall, 48197, Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA

    Yichun Xie

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© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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McGuire, M.P., Roberge, M.C. (2015). The Design of a Collaborative Social Network for Watershed Science. In: Bian, F., Xie, Y. (eds) Geo-Informatics in Resource Management and Sustainable Ecosystem. GRMSE 2014. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 482. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45737-5_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45737-5_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-45736-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-45737-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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