Oakmapper: citizen science, webGIS, and volunteered information

Connors, J., S. Lei and M. Kelly. 2012. Citizen science in the age of neogeography: utilizing volunteered geographic information for environmental monitoring. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 102(6): 1267-1289

The interface between neogeography and citizen science has great potential for environmental monitoring, but this nexus has been explored less often than each subject individually. In this article we review the emerging role of volunteered geographic information in citizen science, and present a case study of an integrated toolset that engages multiple types of users (from targeted citizen-based observation networks, expert-driven focused monitoring, and opportunistic crowdsourcing efforts) in monitoring a forest disease in the western U.S.

Click to read more ...

Geospatial informatics for management of Sudden Oak Death

Kelly, et al. 2004. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing. For a geographer viewing the early days of the SOD epidemic, there were several intriguing spatial aspects on which a monitoring system could be built, including: 1) disease impact was clearly visible at multiple spatial scales, making remote sensing useful in the monitoring process; 2) disease spread and consequent mortality were patchy at landscape scales, making spatial analysis useful; 3) the disease appeared to be spatially regulated, making accurate spatial data collected using GPS and maintained and mapped using GIS critical; and 4) public awareness and concern about the disease were high, and public participation was needed in the monitoring/tracking process, making webGIS and cartography immediately useful tools for information distribution and management assistance.

Click to read more ...

webGIS as a tool for sustainable natural resource management

Kearns et al. 2003. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. Whether tracking invasive species, assessing water quality, or monitoring the spread of disease, comprehensive data collection is a key component of sustainable natural resource management. Increasingly, fostering community-based monitoring is seen as a valuable way to augment data gathering and enhance public involvement in environmental management.

Click to read more ...

WebGIS for monitoring sudden oak death in California

Kelly and Tuxen. 2003. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems. This paper describes in detail how the oakmapper webGIS application was developed, implemented, and used, and discusses some of the common application problems associated with the project, as well as the larger societal issues of Internet access, quality control, and privacy.

Click to read more ...