Citizens as Sensors: The World of Volunteered Geography

Michael F. GoodchildUniversity of California

Santa Barbara

Outline• VGI

– examplesh i– research issues

• Case studyVGI in emergency management– VGI in emergency management

• Individual researchDiscussion• Discussion

The formal naming process • U.S. Board on Geographic Names

– 1890A hi h f b d f l l t ti l• A hierarchy of boards from local to national– no role for amateurs, the general public

A distant mirror• The Waldseemüller map

– St Dié-des-Vosges, 1507th t t k– a name that stuck

The story so farTh d• The modern era– authoritative production of geographic information

• official namingofficial naming• guarantees of accuracy (or inaccuracy)

– need for economies of scale• cost of entry• cost of entry• aerial photography, analytic stereoplotters• advanced skills

printing• printing– generic products

• multiple purposes• long-lived, emphasizing static phenomena

The end of the modern eraG i d d• Growing demands– geographic information to support Web services– wayfinding– public decision-making– management

• Legislatures less willing to fundg g– efforts to make the user pay– constraints on the US federal government

• Meltdown in the costs of entryMeltdown in the costs of entry• Software replacing the need for skills

– soft photogrammetryb i t h– basic cartography

– “anyone can make a map”

popvssoda.comp p

www.openstreetmap.org

www.openstreetmap.org

www.openstreetmap.org

http://www.directrelief.org/Flash/HaitiShipments/Index.html

www.wikimapia.org

www.wikimapia.org

www.wikimapia.org

Neogeography“I th d th ld h i l• “In other words, the old geography involves a prescribed role/interaction between the four main components, namely the audience, the information, p , y , ,the presenter and the subject, which are common to most standard practises of learning. In NeoGeography there are however no suchNeoGeography, there are however no such boundaries on roles, ownership, and interactions of these four components.” Rana and Joliveau, Journal f L ti B d S i (i )of Location-Based Services (in press)

• The citizen as both consumer and producer of geographic informationgeographic information

Volunteered geographic information (VGI)(VGI)

• A phenomenon of the 21st Centuryrecent months– recent months

• User-generated content• Collective intelligence• Crowdsourcing• Asserted information• The empowerment of millions of private citizens• The empowerment of millions of private citizens

– largely untrained– no obvious reward

t f t th– no guarantee of truth– no authority

Sensor networks• Small, cheap devices

– “smart dust”“di it l d t”– “digital dust”

• Sensing ambient propertiesuploading to central site– uploading to central site

Firebugs (UC Berkeley)• Motes distributed in advance of a fire

– compare to problems of overflightGPS RFID iti i• GPS or RFID positioning

What makes VGI possible?W b 2 0• Web 2.0– from downloaded content– to user-generated contentto user generated content– compare blogs, wikis

• Web search enginesg– making it possible to find user-generated content

• Google Earth mash-ups• “Jane Austen Google Earth”Jane Austen Google Earth

Georeferencing• The ability to determine location quickly and

easilymost people do not kno their latit de and– most people do not know their latitude and longitude

– what is at 48 17 06 N, 6 56 57 E?,– where is St Dié-des-Vosges?

• Read coordinates from Google Earth etc.g• GPS

www.geonames.org

ConceptsSpatial data infrastructure• Spatial data infrastructure– 1993 in U.S.– response to declining role of national mappingresponse to declining role of national mapping

agency– increasing role of local agencies, private sector,

individualsindividuals• A patchwork

– variable spatial detailp• determined by local demand, local supply

– independent contributionsintegrated with software– integrated with software

– edge-matched

Citizen scienceNetworks of amateur observers• Networks of amateur observers– possibly trained, skilled

• Christmas Bird CountChristmas Bird Count– thousands of volunteer participants– protocols

• Project GLOBE– an international network of school children

ti i t l diti– reporting environmental conditions– central integration and redistribution

Participant populationsO t ll• Open to all– Wikimapia, Flickr

• Trained or skilled volunteers– Christmas Bird Count

• School children– GLOBEGLOBE

• Vehicle fleets– Inrix

F• Farmers– precision agriculture

• Reversing the traditional top-down flowg p

Coverage• A small number of expert mappers

– located in DCt ll f th US– to cover all of the US

• Mechanized alternativesa small number of automated mapping vehicles– a small number of automated mapping vehicles

– a small number of satellites• 350 million citizens• 350 million citizens

– located nationwide– to cover local areasto cover local areas

• Result is richer and more timely data27

Social issues• Locational privacy

– public persona• traded for convenience security• traded for convenience, security• travel patterns can often distinguish between genuine

use and criminal uselli i• calling emergency services

– private persona• never shared

They are always watching you. Use cash. Do not give your phone number, social security number or address. Do not fill in questionnaires. Demand that credit firms remove you from marketing li t Ch k di l d ft K t l h blists. Check your medical records often. Keep your telephone number unlisted. Never leave your mobile phone on. Do not use credit or discount cards. If you must use the Internet, use someone else's computer Assume that all calls voice mail email and computer usecomputer. Assume that all calls, voice mail, email and computer use are monitored.

The Economist 1 May 1999The Economist, 1 May 1999

“A spate of burglaries in a Buckinghamshire village had already put residents on the alert for any suspicious vehicles. So when the Google S Vi dl d d B h i h 360 dStreet View car trundled towards Broughton with a 360-degree camera on its roof, villagers sprang into action. Forming a human chain to stop it, they harangued the driver about the “invasion of privacy”, adding that the images that Google planned to put online could be used by burglars.”

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6022902.ece

www.flickr.com

Data quality• Traditional mapping guarantees bounds on

inaccuracyq alit can be s rprisingl poor– quality can be surprisingly poor

– legacy data• OSM studies show VGI compares well• OSM studies show VGI compares well• Geographic context• Crowdsourcing metrics• Crowdsourcing metrics• The VGI site life-cycle

earth.google.com

nationalmap.gov

Authority and assertionA th it• Authority– inaccuracies are guaranteed– formal testing programsformal testing programs– metadata

• Assertion– inaccuracies are undocumented– no metadata

d t b t l l t d t b– data about popular places tend to be more accurate

– inaccuracies often less than legacy authoritative data

Emphasis on the easy stuff• Placenames, streets, pictures

– georeferencingll d fi d f t d bj t– well-defined reference systems and objects

• Free production by citizens replacing authoritative productionauthoritative production

• Do other types of geographic information require experts?require experts?– a catalog of types

The FGDC framework layers• Transportation• Transportation

– basic network• rapid updates

– citizens as probes• real-time congestionreal time congestion

– air quality • Hydrography

– water quality • Elevation• Elevation

– adequate authoritative sources• Orthoimagery

– cost of entryC d t l• Cadastral

– legal issues• Administrative units

– legal issues• Geodetic control

– expertise in geodesy

Thematic layers• Weather and climate

– tradition of amateur observersGLOBE– GLOBE

• BiotaChristmas Bird Count– Christmas Bird Count

– e-flora– phenologyphenology

• Soils– Natural Resource Conservation ServiceNatural Resource Conservation Service– mapping for agricultural advice

The soil map• An area-class map

– irregular areas denoting uniform soil typel th d i ti f t– lengthy descriptions of types

– made by highly trained experts– sample points– sample points– interpolation from ground observation and aerial

photography– every point assigned to a single class– expressed in a unique mapping c = f(x)

• What is the nature of the expertise?

Analysis of sample soils Application/use case

Aerial photographyApplication/use case

Historical records of crop performance

Application/use case

Expert knowledge

Application/use case

Covariates, e.g. elevation, climate, parent material

Application/use case

Scale and accuracy issuesApplication/use case

Application knowledge

Summary• Advanced expertise was needed to make soil

mapsTh i il th lt f• The generic soil map was the result of severe economies of scaleThe costs of entry have fallen almost to zero• The costs of entry have fallen almost to zero

• Geographic information on soils can now be purpose specificpurpose-specific– using purpose-specific expertise

• the farmer• the gardener

Forms of expertise• Measurement

– GPSi i i lt– precision agriculture

• Cartographydistributed software– distributed software

• Subject matterapplication specific– application-specific

– application-generic• Local areaLocal area

VGI sources• Specialist meeting in Santa Barbara Dec 13-

14 2007NCGIA– NCGIA

– Los Alamos National Lab– The Vespucci InitiativeThe Vespucci Initiative– Army Research Office– http://ncgia.ucsb.edu/projects/vgi/p g p j g

• GeoJournal Special Issue edited by Sarah Elwood– 72 (3-4): 133-244

Research program• Goodchild, Elwood, Sui• Three topics

– content and quality (UCSB)– analysis and synthesis (TAMU)

social production (UW)– social production (UW)• Case studies

emergency management (UCSB)– emergency management (UCSB)– community development (UW)

ContentWhat are the thematic limits?• What are the thematic limits?– filling the social-data gap– the role of structure in responses– what about dynamic phenomena?– what about dynamic phenomena?– ethics

• Preservation– who will update?who will update?– who will preserve?

• What are the geographic limits?– where do the contributors live?– what places do they contribute about?– http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/4125477/Br

itish-students-fined-for-illegal-map-making-in-China.htmlhtt // d l t d /bl /2009/j /15/d l i– http://www.developmentseed.org/blog/2009/jan/15/developing-countries-mapped-good-detail-open-street-map

Quality• What are suitable metrics?

– methods for determining quality?Th l f t d t• The role of metadata– Wiki-style reviews?

Metadata 2 0– Metadata 2.0• Who will organize?

institutional structures– institutional structures

Who’s doing it?• Long-tail distributions

– Pareto scaling• 3 Wikimapia leaders 140 000+ each• 3 Wikimapia leaders 140,000+ each

• IP addresses• Inference from postings• Inference from postings

988 522 ti lArticles with geotagsRobinson projection

988,522 articles103,291 distinct locations

Articles with geotags# of articles per unit area (log scale, 0.1°

resolution)

Wikipedia authorshipauthorship

• Registered authors Contributions to “Copenhagen Opera House”

• Only username required

# of Contributions Username or IP Most Recent

18 Dybdahl 18-Sep-20056 85.233.237.71 (anon) 12-Jan-2008

• Name, email, etc. optional

• IP address kept hidden

3 Viva-Verdi 8-Sep-20061 Hemmingsen 3-Jan-20074 81.62.92.47 (anon) 15-Apr-20061 Thue 28-Feb-2006• IP address kept hidden

• Anonymous authors

1 Thue 28-Feb-20062 Ghent 30-Apr-20063 Valentinian 7-Jan-20073 83.77.92.205 (anon) 10-Apr-2006

• IP address made public

3 130.226.234.229 (anon) 29-Sep-20072 86.149.109.196 (anon) 15-Oct-20072 Uppland 24-Dec-20052 87.48.100.222 (anon) 12-Jan-2006

• But nothing else( )

University of California, Santa Barbara 135 anonymous authors with 719 revisions; signature distance = 533 km135 anonymous authors with 719 revisions; signature distance 533 km

64% of articles at 2 000 km or less64% of articles at 2,000 km or less

???

Cyberscape: Placemarks in post-Katrina ONew Orleans

Flooding Reports (via Scipionus) in New Orleans,

Sept. 2005

Who was able to or interested in using

this new technology?this new technology?

Which places werethey interested in?

Crutcher and Zook. 2009. GeoForum

Jesus and Allah

BLUE = (more Jesus than Allah); RED = (more Allah than Jesus). Size of the bubble show the magnitude of the difference

What are they doing it about?• <x,Z,z(x)>• Framework data

– common themes that support wayfinding, georeferencing

– Federal Geographic Data Committee– Federal Geographic Data Committee• geodetic control• property ownership• administrative boundaries• Earth imagery• topographyp g p y• hydrography• transportation

Crandall et al. 2009. Mapping the world’s photos. http://www.cs.cornell.edu/~crandall/papers/mapping09www.pdf

Tracks inferred from Flickr postings (http://www cs cornell edu/~crandall/papers/mapping09www pdf)(http://www.cs.cornell.edu/~crandall/papers/mapping09www.pdf)

Summary points• A post-modern solution to geographic

information productionE i th iti b th d• Engaging the citizen as both consumer and producerRaising fundamental issues about the nature• Raising fundamental issues about the nature of geographic expertise

• Revolutionizing the practice of geography• Revolutionizing the practice of geography

Emergency management• Recent fires in Santa Barbara

– Zaca Fire (July 07)• burned for 2 months• burned for 2 months• no houses lost

– Gap Fire (July 08)• burned for 7 days• no houses lost

Tea Fire (November 08)– Tea Fire (November 08) • burned for 2 days• 230 houses lost

NYC Office of Emergency Management and NY Office of Cyber Security d C iti l I f t t C di tiand Critical Infrastructure Coordination

Andrew Curtis, Department of Geography, Louisiana State University

http://ncg nuim ie/ncg/events/20060125/http://ncg.nuim.ie/ncg/events/20060125/

For free PDF version of final report, For free PDF version of final report, Google “Successful ResponseGoogle “Successful Response““

Mapping Science Committee

Geospatial information isGeospatial information is central in all aspects of

emergency managementemergency management

Mitigation for future events

Planning for future events

Response and recovery

Image credits: left, courtesy NGA; top, right courtesy FEMA; bottom right, courtesy John Palatiello, MAPPS/NYS Office of Cyber Security & Critical Infrastructure Coordination/EarthData International

•• Maps are essential in theMaps are essential in theMaps are essential in the Maps are essential in the earliest stages of search earliest stages of search and rescueand rescue

•• Overhead images provideOverhead images provideOverhead images provide Overhead images provide the best early source of the best early source of information on damageinformation on damagegg

•• Importance of evacuationImportance of evacuation•• Importance of evacuation Importance of evacuation planningplanning

Image credits: top, courtesy Schad Meldrum, City of Oklahoma City; middle, courtesy NOAA; bottom, courtesy Richard Church, University of California, Santa Barbara

Geospatial data and tools have the Geospatial data and tools have the potential to contribute to the saving of potential to contribute to the saving of p gp g

lives, the limitation of damage, and lives, the limitation of damage, and reduction in the costs to society ofreduction in the costs to society ofreduction in the costs to society of reduction in the costs to society of

dealing with emergenciesdealing with emergencies

Hits Source595673 Jesusita Fire (Ethan)

188308 SBC Jesusita Fire Santa Barbara, CA (Robert O'Connor - fire news blog)

89214 Jesusita Fire Map (Randy - Independent.com)

67525 Jesusita Fire in Santa Barbara - LA Times map (Los Angeles Times)67525 Jesusita Fire in Santa Barbara - LA Times map (Los Angeles Times)

27777 Map of burned homes in Santa Barbara (Los Angeles Times)

26330 Jesusita Fire Evacuation Areas: Approximation (COSB)

25454 Santa Barbara 'Jesusita Fire' (ABC7 Eyewitness News)

19592 Jesusita Fire - Santa Barbara (lanewspace)

2446 Santa Barbara Damaged Homes 2008 (Los Angeles Times, note: mapped for comparison with Jesusita)

2048 Jesusita Fire (longhairedhippy)

1314 Santa Barbara Fire Evacuation (Gary);

962 Jesusita Fire in Santa Barbara (ABC30 Action News)962 Jesusita Fire in Santa Barbara (ABC30 Action News)

788 Wildfire ~ Santa Barbara (Buffalo)

505 Closure map - Jesusita Fire in Santa Barbara (Los Angeles Times)

77

461 Untitled (Matthew, note: discovered via google.com.mx);

396 Jesusita Fire Structure Damage (Paul Bartsch);

VGII t t i ll th• Important in all three cases– first photographs of Tea Fire appeared on Flickr in

minutes– maps, text accounts

• Search engines (Google) take a finite time to t lcatalog

– too long for Tea Fire• Flickr and other site specific catalogs work• Flickr and other site-specific catalogs work

much faster– after Zaca Fire people knew where to look for p p

rapidly available information

Lessons learnedA th it ti i f ti• Authoritative information– must be verified by officials– too slow for the Tea Fire

• Asserted information– carries risk of false positives

f l f fi i Mi i C• false rumor of a fire in Mission Canyon• some unnecessary evacuations

– people are willing to accept false positives– lack of authoritative information amounts to false negatives– false negatives are far less acceptable than false positives

• there were some posted false negatives

LA Ti M 8 2009LA Times May 8 2009

VGI inventorieshtt // iti i / j t /fi d/fi d• http://www.citizenscience.org/projects/find/find

• http://vgi.spatial.ucsb.edu/inventory• Questions:• Questions:

– who does it?• demographics

h t d th d it b t?– what do they do it about?• content• applications• structured or unstructured?• structured or unstructured?

– QA/QC• protocols• where in the life cycle?• where in the life cycle?

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