Laboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Laboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands; AMS, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, Mauritskade 62, 1092 AD Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Sci Total Environ. 2018 Apr 1;619-620:1133-1142. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.329. Epub 2017 Nov 29.
Environmental sensing data provide crucial information for environment-related decision-making. Formal data are provided by official environmental institutes. Beyond those, however, there is a growing body of so-called informal sensing data, which are contributed by citizens using low-cost sensors. How good are these informal data, and how might they be applied, next to formal environmental sensing data? Could both types of sensing data be gainfully integrated? This paper presents the results of an online survey investigating perceptions within citizen science communities, environmental institutes and their networks of formal and informal environmental sensing data. The results show that citizens and experts had different views of formal and informal environmental sensing data, particularly on measurement frequency and the data information provision power. However, there was agreement, too, for example, on the accuracy of formal environmental sensing data. Furthermore, both agreed that the integration of formal and informal environmental sensing data offered potential for improvements on several aspects, particularly spatial coverage, data quantity and measurement frequency. Interestingly, the accuracy of informal environmental sensing data was largely unknown to both experts and citizens. This suggests the need for further investigation of informal environmental sensing data and the potential for its effective integration with formal environmental sensing data, if hurdles like standardisation can be overcome.
环境感应数据为与环境相关的决策提供了重要信息。正式数据由官方环境研究所提供。除此之外，还有越来越多的所谓非正式感应数据，这些数据是由使用低成本传感器的公民提供的。这些非正式数据的质量如何？除了正式的环境感应数据之外，它们还可以如何应用？这两种类型的感应数据是否可以有益地整合？本文介绍了一项在线调查的结果，该调查调查了公民科学社区、环境研究所及其正式和非正式环境感应数据网络内部的看法。结果表明，公民和专家对正式和非正式环境感应数据有不同的看法，特别是在测量频率和数据信息提供能力方面。然而，他们也有共识，例如，正式环境感应数据的准确性。此外，双方都认为，正式和非正式环境感应数据的整合有可能在几个方面改进，特别是空间覆盖范围、数据数量和测量频率。有趣的是，专家和公民都对非正式环境感应数据的准确性知之甚少。这表明，如果能够克服标准化等障碍，有必要进一步研究非正式环境感应数据及其与正式环境感应数据有效整合的潜力。
