HONOLULU, Hawaii — There is a rapid emergence of citizen science and social networks that yields an exciting new means to become better stewards of our planet.
It’s called Community Remote Sensing (CRS) – a new field that combines remote sensing with citizen science, social networks, and crowd-sourcing to enhance the data obtained from traditional sources. It includes the collection, calibration, analysis, communication, or application of remotely sensed information by these community means.
The power of CRS is being spotlighted here at the 2010 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers meeting of the International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS).
This year’s 30th IGARSS gathering is themed: “Remote Sensing: Global Vision for Local Action.”
Digital Earth Watch Network
One CRS idea that has been spotlighted is PicturePost – a part of the Digital Earth Watch (DEW) network. The activity was detailed during the meeting by a research team from the University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire.
DEW supports environmental monitoring by citizens, students and community organizations through digital photography and satellite imagery.
This activity allows you to measure environmental change in your neighborhood, and contribute to science networks.
For example, the range of PicturePost activities includes:
Adopt a Leaf – Plan and take repeated photographs that capture an event, such as the opening of leaves or flowers in the spring. See how a time-lapse video shows off the dynamic changes captured in your photographs.
Adopt a Tree Diameter – Plan and take repeated photographs that capture the changing diameter of one or more trees.
Adopt a Canopy – Plan and take repeated photographs that capture the changing percent leaf cover in a forest canopy.
Adopt a Season – Plan and take repeated photographs that capture the changing fall colors in deciduous trees.
Check out this Citizen Science site and start measuring the environment through digital images!
Go to: http://picturepost.unh.edu/
By Leonard David