Thanks for your patience during our recent outage at scalar.usc.edu. While Scalar content is loading normally now, saving is still slow, and Scalar's 'additional metadata' features have been disabled, which may interfere with features like timelines and maps that depend on metadata. This also means that saving a page or media item will remove its additional metadata. If this occurs, you can use the 'All versions' link at the bottom of the page to restore the earlier version. We are continuing to troubleshoot, and will provide further updates as needed. Note that this only affects Scalar projects at scalar.usc.edu, and not those hosted elsewhere.
Earth Sciences Earth Sciences provides ample opportunities for citizen science projects, especially in regard to environmental monitoring and geohazard studies. Scholars pair the rise of earth sciences-related citizen science projects to several phenomenon like the making research socially relevant, needing large-scale and long-term datasets, increased public awareness of environmental concerns, and relatively easy access to technology (i.e. cell phones and apps). As seen with other citizen science projects, concerns over cost and data quality are key considerations in designing projects where significant portions of research will be conducted by volunteers.
Crossing paths with environmental engineering and ecology, earth sciences-related citizen projects bring together research on water, biodiversity, air quality, geophysics, and environmental monitoring. Information gathering using remote sensing and/or survey on the ground is known in the field of earth sciences as Earth Observation. Remote sensing can include aerial photography from airplanes or drones and handheld devices and surveys can be both analog and digital. Again, access to technology in the form of smartphones has allowed volunteer participation to flourish. Appealing to concerns over climate change specifically, Earth Observation citizen science projects can improve disaster management and public policy. A goal of these projects is often to increase public awareness of environmental concerns and engage the public in active scientific inquiry through observation and data collection. A hopeful impact is to also improve long-term interest in these earth science topics, where volunteers participate over long periods of time and new volunteers continue to be trained. Reference Fritz, Steffen, Cidália Fonte, and Linda See. “The Role of Citizen Science in Earth Observation.” Remote Sensing (Basel, Switzerland) 9, no. 4 (2017): 357-370.
1media/download_thumb.jpeg2021-03-10T14:05:56-08:00MyShake Earthquake-Detection App Could Save Lives2The MyShake app can sense the earthquake analyze it and instantly relay the information to a specialized cloud server that collects it from other phones in the system and determines the quake’s magnitude and provides alerts.media/download.jpegplain2021-03-10T14:06:26-08:00
1media/cloudlab_thumb.jpeg2021-03-10T14:21:22-08:00The Cloud Lab1In the Cloud Lab, you’ll learn how to classify clouds and what those cloud types mean for our weather. You’ll also analyze data like cloud temperature and height, storm height, and rainfall rate and discover how that data can predict the intensity and movement of a storm. You’ll also use NASA’s powerful Worldview tool to browse global satellite imagery from the past and present.media/cloudlab.jpegplain2021-03-10T14:21:22-08:00
12021-03-10T14:38:06-08:00Air pollution: Let’s Analyse, Clean, and Deliver | Matthew Johnson | TEDxWarwick1A modern day superhero, Matthew works everyday to reduce people’s exposure to air pollution. In his talk, he discusses this invisible threat to society, and offers an innovative solution to analyse and clean the air in some of the most polluted parts of our cities. Matthew Johnson is Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen and co-founder of and Chief Science Officer at Airlabs, a company made up of a team of atmospheric chemists and airflow engineers devoted to reducing people's exposure to air pollution; they do this by designing flexible, low powered, low maintenance air cleaning installations.plain2021-03-10T14:38:06-08:00