Citizen Science Apps Running on the SPOTTERON Platform Contributing to the Ocean Decade

On the SPOTTERON Citizen Science App Platform, several initiatives are related to Citizen Science projects tackling problems related to marine and freshwater environments. As part of this blog, various aquatic-themed Citizen Science Apps running on the SPOTTERON Citizen Science App Platform will be spotlighted. A special section will be dedicated to the CoastSnap and COSEA App running on the SPOTTERON Platform for receiving endorsement by the United Nations Ocean Decade. 

Ocean Decade – a Global Community of Actions for Our Ocean and Seas

In 2021, a framework was established, namely, the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030), the 'Ocean Decade', with a mission to collaboratively support Our Ocean and Seas. A set of 10 Ocean Challenges is uniting collective actions and being the foundation for the Ocean Decade framework. Community engagement and Citizen Science is crucial in reaching those goals.

We are thrilled that CoastSnap App and COSEA App, running on the SPOTTERON Platform, are part of the growing Ocean Decade community.

CoastSnap App

CoastSnap is a global Citizen Science project to capture changing coastlines. With this Citizen Science App, users can create timelines of coasts and record their development. Observing and uploading photos of the same location into the CoastSnap App helps researchers to understand how coastlines are changing over time. CoastSnap was included as one of the Ocean Decade Actions "which are the concrete initiatives carried out across the globe to fulfill the Ocean Decade vision of 'the science we need for the ocean we want'".

We enjoyed listening to the recent podcast episode where Mitchell Harley - the leader of CoastSnap initiative joined the Citizen Science Show sharing more about the CoastSnap community beach monitoring project. This episode is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

As Austria is a landlocked country, we very much enjoy looking at the entries in CoastSnap App and have noticed wonderful timelines made from the citizen scientist observations:

CoastSnap Official Station of the Month: October 2022

We are also truly happy to see the growing community with new CoastSnap locations being present in the App.

COSEA App 

With the COSEA App, Citizen Scientists can observe marine environments, document coastal habitats or species, and report on pollution, infrastructure and the blue economy. Their contributions on the map and activity in the app will help scientists better understand the impacts and drivers of marine factors to protect and foster a healthy relationship between humans and seas. COSEA is also part of the growing Ocean Decade community.

COSEA App is also welcoming new initiatives to join the growing community via the co-use program.

CrowdWater App

CrowdWater is a global Citizen Science project initiated by the University of Zurich, which collects hydrological data. The goal is to develop a cheap and easy data collection method that can be used to predict floods and low flow. The long-term aim of the project is to complement existing gauging station networks, especially in regions with a sparse measurement network, such as in developing countries. Since 2017 CrowdWater is running on SPOTTERON Citizen Science App Platform and have undergone new updates including CrowdWater game:

Coastal Observer App

The Coastal Observer Citizen Science project explores these effects and their impact on the environment and our mood. By contributing observations about floods, tides, storms and water quality, Citizen Scientists can help the University of Delaware, US, with their research.

HydroCrowd App

HydroCrowd is a research project of the Justus Liebig University Giessen, which investigates the potential of participatory monitoring to increase the availability of hydro-climatic data for sustainable water management in Ecuador, Honduras and Tanzania.

For any questions and opportunities, please do not hesitate to get in contact.