Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Today, a growing number of regulatory agencies (including EPA, the Se-
curities and Exchange Commission, and the Food and Drug Administration) see
social media and online collaboration as a means of providing richer, more use-
ful, and more interactive pathways for community participation. For EPA and its
stakeholders, the question is whether the agency can take advantage of this
growing social interconnectivity to engage the public in environmental protec-
tion better while bolstering both its science activities and its capacity for effec-
tive regulatory monitoring and enforcement. There are a number of ways in
which crowdsourcing or citizen science could augment or enhance EPA's scien-
tific and regulatory capabilities. They include harnessing new technologies to
engage broader communities along the lines of crowdsourced data collection,
especially in the context of environmental monitoring, exposure assessment,
health surveillance, and social behaviors; crowdsourced data classification and
analysis; and crowdsourced environmental problem-solving. Crowdsourcing
also provides an opportunity for EPA to gain a better understanding of the gen-
eral sentiment of the public on issues that are of concern to EPA.
Crowdsourcing initiatives are typically low in cost because the most ex-
pensive resource (people's time) is supplied voluntarily. Whether classifying
galaxies or recording observations of bird species or local environmental qual-
ity, participants in a crowdsourcing project are intrinsically motivated to partici-
pate. For an agency like EPA, crowdsourcing presents an opportunity to gather
and analyze large amounts of data or input inexpensively. That being said,
crowdsourcing projects are not free to run either. There are costs involved in
supplying the infrastructure for participation (typically a Web site or mobile
interface where participants can record observations and discuss issues) and
managing the overall effort.
Acquisition of Environmental Data through Remote Sensing
In the 40 years since the launch of Landsat 1—the first Earth-observing
satellite-borne sensor designed expressly to study the planet's land surfaces—
there have been enormous advances in remote-sensing systems for environ-
mental mapping and monitoring. They include multispectral digital imaging
systems and imaging radar (1970s), hyperspectral imaging systems (1980s), and
profiling and imaging LiDAR (1990s to present). In that period, remote sensing
has benefited from rapid improvements in instrument capabilities and calibra-
tion, positional control and global positioning systems, computer performance,
processing algorithms and software, fusion of imagery from multiple sensors,
and closer integration with geographic information system and ground meas-
urements and monitoring systems. As a result, remote sensing of the environ-
ment has evolved from a narrow research community to a large and diverse user
community that is applying remote-sensing products on local, regional, and
global scales (Schaepman et al. 2009).
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