FotoQuest Go
FotoQuest Go is a mobile app for citizens to collect ground-based data at specific locations provided in the app. With many gamification elements including prizes and monetary incentives, citizens collect information on land cover and land use, taking photographs in four cardinal directions and at the location. This is a simplified version of the protocol from the Land Use/Cover Area frame Survey (LUCAS), which is a professional survey to collect data across the EU every three years. The idea behind FotoQuest Go was to see whether citizens could collect the same types of data at a lower cost and/or at a higher temporal and spatial density in such a way as to complement LUCAS surveys. FotoQuest Go also aims to spark a sense of adventure and exploration, encouraging participants to go outside and enjoy nature. Comparison of the data collected by the citizens with LUCAS surveyors has shown good correspondence, particularly for the major land cover types. In the last FotoQuest Go campaign, citizens were also asked to validate any changes in the land cover since the previous survey. FotoQuest Go has been adapted into several other applications, e.g., to collect forest parameters by FAO, to collect building information and verify changes detected by remote sensing by the French National Mapping Agency and to collect land cover data in Indonesia in the Restore+ project.
Aim
a citizen science tool for in-situ land use and land cover monitoring
Needed equipment
smartphone
Created March 24, 2020, 2:24 p.m.
Updated March 24, 2020, 2:24 p.m.
