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Flickr tags could help predict floods

According to a new study, images of floods and other large amounts of water uploaded to the online social image gallery Flickr could help scientists predict floods before they overwhelm flood-prone areas and communities.

Researchers at the University of Warwick studied “tagged” photos on Flickr with words like “river” and “water” which were matched to known flood events, over a period of 10 years.

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MapSwipe Africa article

The crowdsourcing movement to improve African maps

An initiative in Africa has begun crowdsourcing data from the public in order to banish the frequent “data not found” holes common in the continent’s cartography.
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Danube Delta National Institute

Danube Delta National Institute

Scent Toolbox Requirements and Architecture

Romania

165 Babadag Street
Tulcea 820112
Romania

Web: www.ddni.ro


DDNI, established in 1970, is a Romanian State-owned public institution under the authority of Education and Scientific Research Ministry. It focuses on basic and applied research in the field of ecology and environmental protection. The institute provides scientific support for the management of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (DDBR) and other wetland areas of national and international interest for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Since 2009, the institute has been a sub-unit of the National Institute for Research and Development for Environmental Protection.

The DDNI has extensive experience in leading multidisciplinary projects across a range of issues, including environmental impact assessment, environmental protection, geographic information systems and sustainable use. They also have considerable expertise in land use analysis by earth observation. Furthermore, the DDNI has participated in numerous EU FP projects and other EU-funded interregional projects, such as NATURNET – REDIME, GEM-CON-BIO and DANUBEPARKS. The institute’s expertise and potential was recognised at European level in 2000 when it was selected as a Centre of Excellence for Deltas and Wetlands within the European Commission’s Centres of Excellence Programme.



Role in the project

The Danube Delta National Institute (DDNI) will lead the work package on the Scent toolbox requirements and architecture. The institute will play a key role in defining end-user and stakeholder needs relevant for the Scent toolbox in order to form an active and self-sustainable citizen observatory. It will collect information on existing in-situ monitoring systems in the Danube Delta pilot site and organise workshops/interviews to identify knowledge and information gaps relevant to the pilot. DDNI has vast experience in research on environmental issues relevant to the Danube Delta. It will provide the GEOSS portal with valuable information on flood hazards and vulnerability in the test area of the Danube Delta.

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IHE Delft Institute for Water Education

IHE Delft Institute for Water Education

Hydrodynamic and Hydrological Modeling

Netherlands

IHE Delft Institute for Water Education
Westvest 7
2611 AX Delft
The Netherlands

Web: https://www.un-ihe.org/


IHE Delft Institute for Water Education (formerly UNESCO-IHE), based in Delft, the Netherlands, is the largest international water education facility in the world. Its mission is to contribute to the education and training of water professionals, carry out water-related research and support organisations active in the fields of water and environment. Since 1957, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education has provided graduate education to more than 15,000 water professionals from 162 countries. Over 150 PhD fellows are currently enrolled in water-related research and more than 120 water research and capacity development projects are carried out throughout the world at any one time.

The institute has vast experience in research projects. It led EU FP6 project SWITCH (Sustainable city of the future) and FP7 project KULTURisk, and is currently leading the H2020 project PEARL (Preparing for Extreme and Rare Events in Coastal Regions). IHE Delft Institute for Water Education is a partner in many other projects, such as FP7 ICeWater, LENVIS, WeSenseIt, Waternomics and DemEAUMed.



Role in the project

IHE Delft Institute for Water Education will lead the work package on turning observations into spatio-temporal flooding patterns. The institute will coordinate the development of hydrodynamic and hydrological models for the two pilot areas of Scent. With extensive experience in flood modelling for creating flood risk maps and analysing flooding patterns, they will also play a key role in identifying contributions of crowd-sourced data to aspects of flood risks, such as flood hazards, exposure and vulnerability. They will then provide recommendations for the use of these in flood modelling and risk management.

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IBM Research Haifa

IBM Research Haifa

Technical Coordinator – Scent Intelligence Engine

Israel

IBM R&D Labs in Israel
Haifa University Campus, Mount Carmel
Haifa, 3498825
Israel

Web: research.ibm.com/haifa/


IBM Research

The IBM Research Laboratory in Haifa, Israel opened in 1972 and has conducted decades of research that have been vital to IBM’s success. The lab’s activities involve advanced research and development under the guidance of the IBM Corporation’s Research Division. The IBM Haifa Research lab is the second largest of IBM’s twelve global research labs. IBM strives to lead in the creation, development and manufacture of the industry’s most advanced information technologies, including computer systems, software, networking systems, storage devices and microelectronics.

IBM participates in, and contributes heavily to the work of standards consortia, alliances, and formal national and international standards organisations. Throughout several decades, the group has worked on various computer vision problems, such as automated medical imaging diagnosis, handwriting recognition, and product placement inspection for supermarkets. Today the group specialises in developing state of the art technologies in the areas of 2D/3D computer vision, augmented reality and immersive telepresence.  The group has previous EU project experience in digitising cultural assets (IMPACT), research in immersive robotic telepresence (BEAMING) and usage of augmented reality for smart home energy awareness (IDEAS).



Role in the project

IBM’s role in the project is to lead the computer vision and analysis related aspects of the work package on the Scent intelligence engine. With many years of experience with technical project management and coordination, IBM will be the technical coordinator of the project. IBM’s team of experts will focus on developing existing technologies for natural outdoor scene recognition as well as new state of the art technologies for object recognition within scenes.

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