Geo-Wiki

Geo Wiki
Original author(s) IIASA, University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, University of Freiburg
Website www.geo-wiki.org

Geo-wiki is a wiki for engaging citizens in environmental monitoring. It aids in both the validation of existing geographical information and the collection of new geographical information through crowdsourcing.[1] Using tools such as Google Earth, Bing Maps, Geotagged photographs and the internet, individual volunteers are able to contribute valuable information.

The Geo-wiki Platform is a global network of volunteers who wish to help improve the quality of global land cover and land use maps. For example, volunteers are asked to review global land cover disagreement maps and determine, based on what they see in satellite imagery and their local knowledge, if the land cover maps are correct or incorrect. Their input is recorded in a database, along with uploaded photos, to be used in the future for new and improved global land cover maps.[2]

Land cover validation

Land cover disagreement
Land cover disagreement over Africa in croplands and forests available for analysis in Geo-wiki

Global land cover validation exercises are feasible as images less than 2.5 meter resolution provide very detailed information on land cover with global coverage of at least 20%[3] with more high-resolution, up to date images continuously being added. Internet tools such as Google Earth offer enormous potential for land cover validation.[4] The use of Volunteer Geographic Information for land cover validation studies seems even more relevant as Google Earth has been used for the recent validation of remote sensing derived products e.g., the European forest cover map[5] as well as the latest global land cover map GlobCover.[6] Google Earth allows wider audience to be involved in a validation exercise.

Applications of Geo-wiki beyond simply improving land cover. An application helps to predict future deforestation in Central Africa,[7] combining five existing cropland data sets from sub-Saharan Africa to create a new map which has higher accuracy than existing maps. This should reduce uncertainty and improve predictions in land use, vegetation, climate change, and earth systems modeling. Scientists from several research institutions describe development of the map in Geophysical Research Letters, along with the application of Geo-Wiki.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Remote Sensing | Free Full-Text | Geo-Wiki.Org: The Use of Crowdsourcing to Improve Global Land Cover". Mdpi.com. doi:10.3390/rs1030345. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  2. ↑ "GEO-Wiki". Earthzine. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  3. ↑ Potere, D. Horizontal positional accuracy of google earth's high-resolution imagery archive.Sensors 2008, 8, 7973-7981
  4. ↑ Butler, D. The web-wide world. Nature 2006, 439, 776-778
  5. ↑ Pekkarinen, A.; Reithmaier, L.; Strobl, P. Pan-European forest/non-forest mapping with Landsat ETM+ and CORINE Land Cover 2000 data. ISPRS J. Photogramm. 2009, 64, 171-183
  6. ↑ Defourny, P.P.; Schouten, L.; Bartalev, S.; Bontemps, S.P.; Caccetta, P. et al., Accuracy Assessment of a 300 m Global Land Cover Map: The GlobCover Experience, 2009
  7. ↑ Anjali Nayar. "Model predicts future deforestation : Nature News". Nature.com. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  8. ↑ "Cropland for sub-Saharan Africa: A synergistic approach using five land cover data sets". Agu.org. Retrieved 2012-01-06.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, March 14, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.