Looking back, looking ahead
On Thursday 17th May 2018 the Scent consortium, the European Commission Project Officer and the external reviewer gathered for the project’s mid-term review meeting in the heart of the EU. The Scent project team presented the work conducted in the first 18 months and outlined the next steps and plans for future activities. Read more →
Scientists need the help of citizens in carrying out important research
In his Irish Times article of 7th December 2017, John Roche describes the power citizens have to contribute to advances in scientific knowledge and to democratise research. Roche, an Astrophysicist and Assistant Professor in Science Education at Trinity College Dublin, describes a new citizen science initiative between the Irish daily newspaper The Irish Times and citizen science researchers across Ireland. Read more →
Over the next six months, the Irish daily newspaper the Irish Times will be promoting citizen science projects in Ireland by collaborating with citizen science researchers across the country. The aim is to raise awareness about citizen science among the public, to generate new ideas and to get citizens to participate actively. Read more →
The Scent project is pleased to announce the launch of its web site today. The web site will be a core communication channel for all stakeholders involved, including the general public. Read more →
Scent joined discussions on global Earth observation initiatives at the 13th Plenary Session of the Group on Earth Observations – GEO (GEO-XIII) on 7th – 10th November, 2016, in St. Petersburg. Read more →
The Scent kick-off meeting was hosted by the Institute of Communications and Computer Systems (ICCS) in Athens between the 14th and 15th September, 2016. All ten project partners and the European Commission were represented at the two-day meeting hosted by the project coordinator ICCS in the Greek capital. Read more →
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The Showcase was opened on 20 June by Eleni Velgaki, Director within the Region of Attica; Angelos Amditis, Scent Project Coordinator; and Izabela Freytag, EASME Project Advisor at the European Commission, who commended the project for making science and data accessible for all and for harnessing citizen science to make a positive different for the future.
“The data collected by citizens must be easy to find and accessible to support its future use”, said Valantis Tsiaskos, Scent Project Manager. The panel, also including Stefano Tamascelli, XTeam Solutions; Joseph Shtok, IBM Research; Ioana Popescu, IHE-Delft; and Valantis Tsiakos, ICCS, discussed how the Scent Toolbox technologies engage citizens in collecting information about the environment, and use machine-learning to transform this data into flood models and standardised resources.
Daniele Miorandi, U-Hopper, shared how the Scent Toolbox helps to gather citizen-generated data and translates it into resources to help policymakers make better decisions. Throughout the Interactive Demonstration, people could test out tools such as Scent Measure. Citizens use portable sensors together with Scent Measure to record and measure changes in soil conditions. Other Scent Toolbox components on display included Scent Campaign Manager, Scent Map Segmentation and Delineation, and Learn with Scent.
Panellists discussed challenges and enablers of citizen science in flood monitoring and management. THe panel included researchers and policymakers from Greece and Romania, each bringing a new perspective to why people engage in citizen science and how to sustain that engagement. They were all in agreement that people need to see they are having an impact and can help by contributing to something greater. Izabel Freytag, from the European Commission, affirmed “There are many solutions and good examples. We can learn from other citizen science initiatives and educate people, starting with existing communities.”
This discussion led into a session focused on success stories and lessons learned from other citizen science initiatives. Partners from LandSense, WeObserve Ecosystem, GROW Observatory, SMURBS, and HRTA from Scent each shared about how their projects have engaged citizens to become citizen scientists. Panelists were clear that data sharing is key to future developments in the field.
On 21 June, participants were brought on a field trip to the Kifisos river basin, where participants were able to test the new Scent apps in a live Scent citizen science campaign. Participants were guided along the river bank where they used Scent Explore to gather data, such as land-use/land-cover images, water velocity measurements and river parameter measurements. Using the Scent Measure app and a portable sensor, the participants took measurements of soil moisture and air temperature at points of environmental interest. The information they gathered helps to create flood models for the river basin.
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To enter, send a short description of your idea (1000 words plus any pictures, graphs etc) and a short biography (200 words) to appathon@scent-project.eu by 29 March 2019. If you are applying as a team, a representative should apply on behalf of your team, and include the names of all team members.
All entrants will receive feedback on the relevance of their submissions by 11 April 2019.
Selected participants will then enter the ‘rapid development’ phase where they will develop their proposed app in a one-month period. The deadline for submitting the final developed app is by 17 May 2019 at 00:00 CET. The apps should be submitted to https://isense-cloud.iccs.gr/s/Scent_Appathon.
The winner of the Appathon will be announced on 24 May 2019.
Participation in the Scent Appathon is subject to the attached terms and conditions.
The winner of the Scent Appathon will be awarded the following prizes:
– The app will be included and promoted as part of the Scent Toolbox, making it available to an estimated 1500 currently registered users;
– The exhibition of the app at the Scent Showcase, 20 June 2019 in Athens, Greece (travel and participation costs will be covered by the Scent project);
– The demonstration and testing of the app in the final pilot campaign of the Scent project, 21 June in Athens, Greece;
– The usage of the app during the remaining Scent pilot campaigns to be organised in Athens, Greece, and the Danube Delta, Romania;
– Promotion of the app through the project website, social media and other communication activities, including a live broadcast of the app during the Scent Showcase and the featuring of the app on the WeObserve Website.
Developers are asked to create a mobile application that can train users to improve their technique in capturing videos using the Scent Explore app. The new app should provide a test suite where users can practice their video technique and check if they are following the guidelines provided to them for using Scent Explore. The app should correct them when they are not following the guidelines, and provide feedback and tips on how to improve their technique.
The training material in the app can be based on augmented reality and graphics, or else use videos collected by volunteers using the Scent Explore app in previous Scent campaigns.
The guidelines that should be evaluated by the app are:
– Videos should not be taken from up-close, the floating object should be a small percentage of the total frame;
– The camera frame should include some stationary features located at the riverbank;
– The camera should be steady;
– The camera should be perpendicular to the riverbank;
– The device should not be titled – phones should be held perpendicular to the ground and not angled backward or forward;
– The user should keep the camera stable, fixed in position and not follow the floating object;
– The video may include frames without the floating object, by only at the beginning and end.
You can download the full instructions given to Scent Explore users here. Some example of videos (successful and unsuccessful) are located here.
The apps will be evaluated and scored according to the following criteria:
1. The app should be compliant with the video capture guidelines, available here. Each of the seven guidelines will be tested, following the instructions inside the app. Each guideline will be evaluated as either succeeded (Score 1) or failed (Score 0). The sum of these seven scores will be input into the following formula (4*score_sum)/7.
-Score 0-4: Computed based on the formula, according to the identified invalid user actions
2. The messages should be informative and support the user to provide high quality data:
– Score 0 (failed): No messages provided
– Score 1 (good): Messages describing only the user invalid actions
– Score 2 (excellent): Messages describing the user invalid actions and suggestions for improvement
3. The app should include graphic-design and augmented reality elements:
– Score O (failed): No or limited graphic elements
– Score 1 (good): Detailed graphic elements
– Score 2 (excellent): Detailed graphic elements enriched with augmented reality elements
4. The app should be available for at least Android 6. IOS compatibility and will be considered an asset:
– Score O (failed): Compatible only with Android version 6
– Score 1 (good): Compatible with Android version 7+
– Score 2 (excellent): Compatible with both Android version 7+ and IOS
5. The app should provide a way for Scent Toolbox users to collect data (user experience):
– Score 0 (failed): The app shows significant bugs which do not allow normal use
– Score 1 (good): The app provides sufficient interfaces to guide the user towards appropriate data collection
– Score 2 (excellent): The app supports the user based on his level/needs and provides additional tips and helpful information
| Title: | scent_logo_pack.zip |
| INCLUDES: | All standard formats for screen and print use including EPS, PNG, JPEG |
| FILE SIZE: | 4.1Mb |
| DOWNLOAD: | Click here to download |
| Title: | scent_wallpaper.jpg |
| RESOLUTION: | 1920px x 1080px |
| FILE SIZE: | 1.5Mb |
| DOWNLOAD: | Click here to download |
| Title: | scent_partner_map.png |
| DIMENSIONS: | 1312px × 568px |
| FILE SIZE: | 250Kb |
| DOWNLOAD: | Click here to download |
| Title: | scent_poster_18-01.pdf |
| DIMENSIONS: | 1189mm × 841mm |
| FILE SIZE: | 174.3Mb |
| DOWNLOAD: | Click here to download |
| Title: | scent_architeture_diagram_v1.2.png |
| DIMENSIONS: | 3472px × 2230px |
| FILE SIZE: | 421Kb |
| DOWNLOAD: | Click here to download |
| Title: | scent_overview_diagram.png |
| DIMENSIONS: | 2694px × 2073px |
| FILE SIZE: | 2Mb |
| DOWNLOAD: | Click here to download |
This is the largest wetland in Europe and is protected under UNESCO as a unique biosphere reserve. The Danube Delta suffers from human interventions leading to dramatic changes. These interventions include damming large areas for agricultural use and intensive forestry. They result in disturbances of the water and ecological balance and even the loss of specific habitats.
The Scent pilot in Greece relates to the urban environment around the Kifisos river in Attica. This covers app. 380km2, and almost 60% of its watershed is urbanised (metropolitan Athens area). Its hydrographic network has been drastically altered due to distinct land-use and 68% of the basin is occupied by urban expanses – host to 4 million citizens.
Scent 2018 Pilot Campaign Results
Scent Pilot Campaigns 2018 -2019
| Title: | scent_logo_pack.zip |
| INCLUDES: | All standard formats for screen and print use including EPS, PNG, JPEG |
| FILE SIZE: | 4.1Mb |
| DOWNLOAD: | Click here to download |
| Title: | scent_wallpaper.jpg |
| RESOLUTION: | 1920px x 1080px |
| FILE SIZE: | 1.5Mb |
| DOWNLOAD: | Click here to download |
| Title: | scent_partner_map.png |
| DIMENSIONS: | 1312px × 568px |
| FILE SIZE: | 250Kb |
| DOWNLOAD: | Click here to download |
| Title: | scent_poster_18-01.pdf |
| DIMENSIONS: | 1189mm × 841mm |
| FILE SIZE: | 174.3Mb |
| DOWNLOAD: | Click here to download |
| Title: | scent_architeture_diagram_v1.2.png |
| DIMENSIONS: | 3472px × 2230px |
| FILE SIZE: | 421Kb |
| DOWNLOAD: | Click here to download |
| Title: | scent_overview_diagram.png |
| DIMENSIONS: | 2694px × 2073px |
| FILE SIZE: | 2Mb |
| DOWNLOAD: | Click here to download |
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 688930.
