SAON Task
Eye on Earth PolarWatch:
Building a Shared Environmental Information Service to support SAON
Summary
The aim of this SAON task is to support the development of an Arctic information and observation network facility, delivered via the global public information network Eye on Earth www.eyeonearth.org. The facility will be focusing on connecting environmental networks, using SEIS principles for access and sharing of information and building on existing and emerging environmental priority data flows from EEA partner countries, the Russian Federation and USA (in the first instance). The aim is to develop an Arctic service (PolarWatch) that will enable access to and sharing of data and information for countries, researchers and communities. It is envisaged that the facility will further enhance the sharing of information amongst the many diverse users and providers, create new links and enhance existing cooperation across the Arctic.
Background
The world continues to need strong policies that promote environmental improvements, sustainable development and a green economy. Many countries, organisations, institutions and international programmes undertake monitoring and observing activities as well as extensive scientific research activities to provide quality environmental information and knowledge on which to base sound policymaking. In addition to these activities there is a wealth of information held by lay, local and traditional knowledge holders and through community based monitoring programmes, citizen science and crowdsourcing activities and NGOs. There is a growing need to make greater use of the collective outputs from these activities, including in the Arctic, for example in building up a shared knowledge of the changes occurring and a better understanding of the social and economic developments in the region.
Environmental information is also needed to empower citizens, so they can effectively influence public policy, and make informed decisions about the environment and how they consume. Furthermore, as the environment is a public good, they have a right to widely available information, such as air quality in their neighbourhood. Businesses also use environmental information, for example, to track their impacts on the environment; predict future supplies of resources needed for operations; or as an incentive to develop innovative solutions for environmental problems.
PolarWatch
PolarWatch will, in the first instance, focus on a limited number of Arctic themes. These themes will be identified during the course of the project. It is proposed to start a pilot with a selection of environmental issues, i.e. climate change and biodiversity. PolarWatch will make available “official” data (the first pillar). These datasets will need to be identified together with the appropriate organisations and networks. The second pillar (crowdsourcing) facilitates feedback and simple observations from citizens. The final part, citizen science, will identify relevant citizen science initiatives in the region. If no such initiatives exist, the project will identify gaps in data provision and help to set up new citizen science projects in the region. If resources allow, a smart phone application could be developed to support this process. However, at this point in time, it is not known up to what extent this is technically and economically feasible, given the specific circumstances in the region (GPS and network issues).
As with the existing Watches, the EEA is keen on enabling communities to provide their own data and information in this global public information network. In this way, communities can, in a transparent and systematic way, become both involved in projects or ongoing programmes of scientific work as well as create their own observation and reporting services and, by doing so, fill important knowledge gaps. By the definition of communities we include community based monitoring and indigenous knowledge. Community Based Monitoring (CBM) refers to the gathering of data and information by local residents over a period of time. Indigenous knowledge is the knowledge which people in a given community have developed over time and which continues to develop. It is based on experience, often tested over centuries of use, adapted to local culture and environment.
PolarWatch is also envisaged to contain video clips with Arctic residents and/or researchers, films, reports, articles and other local or topic related material. In this way PolarWatch will consist of data, wider knowledge and stories. As for the sharing of data and information, many topics can be included in PolarWatch, and below are some suggestions which can be discussed with SAON partners, countries, agencies and holders of information (some of the products/services are dependant or partially derivedfrom satellite data):
· Ice cap/sheet cover and thickness - seasonal and multi-annual change
· Sea ice cover and thickness - seasonal and multi-annual (incl. indigenous knowledge on ice condition)
· Land cover/use – including cities - multi-annual
· Snow cover - seasonal and multi-annual
· Permafrost extent
· Patterns of floating ice and icebergs
· Maritime traffic patterns mapped in relation to environmentally sensitive sea areas
· Sea surface temperatures
· Air temperature (+ wind speed + visibility)
· Marine chlorophyll
· Satellite derived oil spill statistics (if available)
· Wildlife observed - by species
· Wildlife harvested - by species
· Species (Marine mammals; Terrestrial mammals; Birds; Fish etc.)
· Man-made infrastructure (Oil/gas installations, pipelines, roads, cities/ports, mines, etc.)
· Marine licencing areas for oil, gas, mining activities
Networking aspects of information sharing in the Arctic region
With regards to the networking activity under this SAON task, it is proposed that there will be no formal criteria for participation other than a willingness to present and maintain services delivering environmental data, decision support tools, information and/or knowledge in standard/interoperable forms – much like the internet as a whole. As such, the network will operate as an association of participating organisations and existing networks. These organisations and networks providing services may, by way of example, comprise governmental entities, inter-governmental bodies, non-governmental organisations, or communities of expert individuals.
The network aims to provide fundamental value in helping to facilitate other SAON tasks by creating the connective tissue between existing and emerging information networks, the underpinning tools and technologies, as well as content. The network is a facilitating framework and is foreseen to encourage, connect, inspire, advise, support and promote sharing and learning and help build the relevant capacity. The concept recognizes three components which need to be interconnected and developed in balance:
1. Networking and partnerships (people and organisations);
2. Content development (starting with supporting common needs for all SAON tasks and including, for example, data flows in the Arctic Council context);
3. Shared tools, technology and infrastructure (including, inter alia, applications and common platforms to help report and share information, tools to support the linking and interoperability of data, as well as semantic and terminology management).
In the past, major barriers to data sharing have been aspects of interoperability, dispersed storage, differentiated approaches, for example towards traditional and community based knowledge, and a common thesaurus (vocabularies) and semantic web. The aim of this SAON task is therefore to develop a service that enables access to and sharing of data and information for countries, researchers and communities through one common platform. This will increase effectiveness in Arctic data and information sharing and can raise public awareness by creating a platform for citizen science projects and crowdsourcing activities in the region. Other SAON tasks will address some of the other barriers mentioned above.
Eye on Earth
To facilitate sharing and usage of available environmental information, the European Environment Agency has, in partnership with Microsoft and ESRI, developed a global public information network: Eye on Earth. The purpose is to provide a single point of entry to global environmental data, including in due course from the Arctic region. It will not only make those datasets accessible but it will also provide a front-end to represent the data (e.g. through map services) to serve all stakeholders. In this way, not only data providers but also policy makers will benefit from the services, that is, environmental organisations, emergency responders, GIS professionals, relevant communities and the general public.
By encouraging data sharing between different sectors and organisations coupled with intelligent representation of those data and information, Eye on Earth provides a knowledge base for sustainable development. The Watches harness cutting-edge technological innovations to combine environmental data with geospatial data. The initiative continuously identifies new and relevant partners who can assist in strengthening or establishing regional networks in order to encourage data sharing within those networks as well as on a global scale. To this end, Eye on Earth will facilitate data sharing not only in a technical context but will also focus on partnerships and networking as well as on content definition and development.
In addition to SAON and Arctic Council working groups, Eye on Earth also seeks cooperation with other organisations and initiatives such as the European Environment Information and Observation Network (Eionet), the Africa Environment Information Network (AfricaEIN), the GEO/GEOSS community, UNEP-Live and the Global Networks of Network (GNoN) which is one of eight Special Initiatives approved at the Eye on Earth Summit, held in December 2011 in Abu Dhabi. Eye on Earth will also seek partnerships with community based monitoring initiatives and will draw on knowledge from indigenous peoples. It should be mentioned that the outcome document “The Future We Want” from the 2012 Earth Summit Rio+20 bears reference to Eye on Earth (paragraph 274): “…We note the relevance of global mapping and recognize the efforts in developing global environmental observing systems, including by the Eye on Earth Network and through the Global Earth Observation System of Systems.”
Watches
Eye on Earth is a multi-directional platform for the communication of environmental data and information between the EEA and the public. The key message of Eye on Earth is “Sharing is everything”, emphasizing the importance of global cooperation with regards to environmental information. Watches are a key component of Eye on Earth which aims to: collect and compile environmental data from diverse sources; transform that data into relevant information; and make information accessible to a wide diversity of audiences. Watch users can interact with the EEA and/or with each other through: feedback about Eye on Earth (e.g. How is the platform useful?); personal ratings of local environmental quality; and citizen science. Information within the platform exists at various levels of complexity, it is underpinned by social media and web services, and, where possible, is presented in multiple languages.
As mentioned above, the purpose of a Watch is to facilitate a two-way communication with the target audience. A Watch can focus on a certain theme or region, or both. Watches always contain a number of elements: data provision, a crowdsourcing element and, in some cases, a citizen science component. In general, the Watches will be supported by social media campaigns and applications.
In May 2008, Eye on Earth was launched with WaterWatch, an online interactive map of Europe that presents the latest available official bathing water quality data. This was followed in November 2009 with AirWatch providing near real-time data on three air pollutants which, in addition to Europe, also covers USA and Russia. Both Watches allow users to provide their own online ratings. In the future, EEA aims to engage citizens in the observation and reporting of environmental data to fill important knowledge gaps. The most recently (2012) launched Watch is NoiseWatch with figures for 164 cities. Watches for additional environmental issues, to be added to Eye on Earth soon, include NatureWatch (invasive alien species); marine litter; land use and sea surface temperature (an extension to WaterWatch). PolarWatch is now being developed for SAON.
Citizens will be able to provide their own data to the Watches through citizen science, defined as ‘public involvement in projects or ongoing programmes of scientific work by which individual volunteers or networks of volunteers, many of whom may have no specific scientific training, perform or manage research-related tasks such as observation, measurement or computation.’ EEA’s vision is to engage the public in the observation and reporting of environmental data and information to fill important gaps in the evidence and knowledge base of the state of the environment, thereby improving our understanding. For example, citizen scientists will be able to track invasive alien species by recording photos and sounds with smart phone applications. Below are images of the planned NatureWatch website and mobile phone application.
WaterWatch NatureWatch (homepage) NatureWatch (App)
Connection to activities currently outside SAON
In addition to drawing on the knowledge of local and indigenous peoples and supporting a number of other SAON tasks, PolarWatch can also contribute to other ongoing activities, such as the Arctic Spatial Data Infrastructure Initiative (ASDI) and the Global Monitoring on Environment and Security (GMES), as briefly outlined below.
With regard to ongoing monitoring efforts in the Arctic, the Arctic SDI initiative will allow for more effective circumpolar monitoring of biodiversity and common resources, as well as more effective interpretation and implementation of monitoring systems, e.g. with regards to climate change effects. The Arctic SDI will, in due course, form an important framework and tool to facilitate, for example, the further development of SAON. The Eye on Earth PolarWatch and network initiative will ensure a suitable communication platform for the Arctic SDI that is easily accessible to the Arctic user community.
The Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) intiative is an EU-wide flagship programme that aims to support policymakers, business and citizens with improved environmental information. GMES is designated as Europe’s main contribution to the global ten-year implementation plan for Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). Key to delivering the planned system is sustained observing systems and open data policies. Decisions and commitments made at the GEO Ministerial in 2010 represent a major step forward in relation to the terms on which data are shared and made accessible. A commitment to increase the sustainability of existing monitoring systems, especially in-situ, is a crucial next step to meet the growing demand for information and the challenges of global environmental change. GMES integrates satellite and in-situ data with modelling to provide user-focused information services, including climate change, air quality, marine issues and border surveillance. The services will enable the Arctic community and organisations to take action, make appropriate policy decisions and decide on necessary investments. GMES Initial Operations are now underway and the programme is expected to evolve towards operational status by 2014.