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Intelligent Sensing for Citizen Science

Challenges and Future Directions

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Abstract

Interest in Citizen Science has grown significantly over the last decade. Much of this interest can be traced to the provision of sophisticated platforms that enable seamless collaboration, cooperation and coordination between professional and amateur scientists. In terms of field research, smart-phones have been widely adopted, automating data collection and enriching observations with photographs, sound recordings and GPS coordinates using embedded sensors hosted on the device itself. Interaction with external sensor platforms such as those normally used in the environmental monitoring domain is practically null-existent. Remedying this deficiency would have positive ramifications for both the professional and citizen science communities. To illustrate the relevant issues, this paper considers a common problem, that of data collection in sparse sensor networks, and proposes a practical solution that would enable citizen scientists act as Human Relays thus facilitating the collection of data from such networks. Broader issues necessary for enabling intelligent sensing using common smart-phones and embedded sensing technologies are then discussed.

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Notes

  1. https://xively.com/

  2. https://www.thingspeak.com/

  3. http://www.wunderground.com/

  4. http://citizencyberlab.eu/

  5. http://www.taztag.com/

  6. http://www.opengeospatial.org/

  7. https://cordova.apache.org/

  8. http://phonegap.com

  9. http://www.libelium.com/

  10. https://java.net/projects/spots/pages/Home

  11. http://www.shimmersensing.com/

  12. https://jquerymobile.com/

  13. https://dojotoolkit.org/

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the EU FP7 ENV.2012.6.5-1 programme under grant number 308513. The support of the COBWEB consortium is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computer Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

    Michael J. O’Grady, Conor Muldoon & Barnard Kroon

  2. School of Computing, National College of Ireland, Irish Financial Services Centre, Dublin, Ireland

    Dominic Carr

  3. Schools of Computer Science and Techniques, Nantong University, 9 Seyuan Rd, Chongchuan, Nantong, Jiangsu, 226019, China

    Jie Wan

  4. Earth Institute and School of Computer Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

    Gregory M. P. O’Hare

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  1. Michael J. O’Grady
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  2. Conor Muldoon
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  3. Dominic Carr
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  4. Jie Wan
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  5. Barnard Kroon
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  6. Gregory M. P. O’Hare
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Correspondence to Michael J. O’Grady.

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O’Grady, M.J., Muldoon, C., Carr, D. et al. Intelligent Sensing for Citizen Science. Mobile Netw Appl 21, 375–385 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11036-016-0682-z

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