crowdsourced GIS Archives

A screenshot showing a transparent green polygon on top of a purple polygon with a dark grey 3D geographic background.

Crowdsourcing Archaeological Data with Participatory GIS

People with little or no training in archaeology or geographic computing systems can build GIS data using Humap’s Placemaker.

OpenStreetMap relies on contributions from thousands of volunteers to contribute and edit GIS data. Screenshot taken 10-Feb-2021.

The “Bystander Effect” With Crowdsourcing GIS Data

by Mark Altaweel

A recent research article found that users are less inclined to contribute to crowdsourced geospatial sites like OpenStreetMap and Waze if they know others are already contributing.

Mapping the Progression of Invasive Species with Crowdsourced Data

by Olivia Harne

Researchers have mapped out approximate 48,510 harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) sightings – all obtained through participation of the public – over the course of a decade.

5 New Year’s Resolution for GIS Users

by Caitlin Dempsey

As 2016 ends, focus on the New Year, reflect on enhancing GIS skills, and actively engage in the geospatial community for growth.

A Screenshot of the Yiyun Interactive Map for Ya’an Earthquake Disaster Relief (10 August 2014). Source: Elwood, Goodchild, & Sui, 2012.

GIS and Social Activism

by Mark Altaweel

Groups promoting various causes are implementing geospatial approaches and GIS related technologies.

The Future of Street Level Photos in Mapping

by GIS Contributor

Using mobile phones, 360-degree cameras, car dashboards and helmet cameras, Mapillary’s users take geo-tagged pictures of the roads they travel which the app automatically uploads to Mapillary’s platform. Then, Mapillary stitches the photos together and turns them into an immersive, navigable, street level view of the world.

Kibera geographic data collection via OpenStreetMap

Black Holes No More: The Emergence of Volunteer Geographic Information

by GIS Contributor

This essay by Ron Mahabir takes a look at how crowdsourced mapping efforts are helping to fill in much needed geographic information about impoverished areas around the world.

iSPEX map compiled from all iSPEX measurements performed in the Netherlands on July 8, 2013, between 14:00 and 21:00. Each blue dot represents one of the total of 6007 measurements that were submitted that day. At each location on the map, the 50 nearest iSPEX measurements were averaged and converted to Aerosol Optical Thickness, a measure for the total amount of atmospheric particles. This map can be compared to the AOT data from the MODIS Aqua satellite, which flew over the Netherlands at 16:12 local time. The relatively high AOT values were caused by smoke clouds from forest fires in North America, that were blown over the Netherlands at an altitude of 2-4 km. In the course of the day, the northerly winds brought clearer air to the northern provinces.

Using Citizens to Map Atmospheric Particulates

by Caitlin Dempsey

By leveraging data from over 8,000 smartphone users, Dutch researchers successfully mapped atmospheric particulate levels.

Mapping the Outbreaks of Diseases

by Rebecca Maxwell

In August of 2014, the World Health Organization declared a public emergency in response to the growing number of Ebola cases that have struck several … Read more

Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda): The Mapping Response from the Tech Community

by Jack Pitts

Typhoon Haiyan (locally referred to as ‘Yolanda’[1]) made landfall in the Philippines on Friday November 8th 2013. Officially, 1839 people have been killed as a … Read more

Cat Map

by Caitlin Dempsey

With over 11,000 cat locations mapped to date, the Cat Map is a crowd sourced survey of domestic feline