A1 Journal article (refereed)
A Mobile Application–Based Citizen Science Product to Compile Bird Observations (2024)
Nokelainen, O., Lauha, P., Andrejeff, S., Hänninen, J., Inkinen, J., Kallio, A., Lehto, H. J., Mutanen, M., Paavola, R., Schiestl-Aalto, P., Somervuo, P., Sundell, J., Talaskivi, J., Vallinmäki, M., Vancraeyenest, A., Lehtiö, A., & Ovaskainen, O. (2024). A Mobile Application–Based Citizen Science Product to Compile Bird Observations. Citizen Science : Theory and Practice, 9(1), Article 24. https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.710
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: Nokelainen, Ossi; Lauha, Patrik; Andrejeff, Sebastian; Hänninen, Jari; Inkinen, Jasmin; Kallio, Aleksi; Lehto, Harry J.; Mutanen, Marko; Paavola, Riku; Schiestl-Aalto, Pauliina; et al.
Journal or series: Citizen Science : Theory and Practice
eISSN: 2057-4991
Publication year: 2024
Publication date: 10/09/2024
Volume: 9
Issue number: 1
Article number: 24
Publisher: Ubiquity Press
Publication country: United Kingdom
Publication language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.710
Research data link: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13326225
Publication open access: Openly available
Publication channel open access: Open Access channel
Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/98941
Abstract
Citizen science covers initiatives from crowdsourcing, distributed intelligence, and participatory science, to extreme citizen science. Terminological overlap, varied project aims, and cultural differences in the fields of research have, however, led to discord regarding how impactful citizen science projects can be. Here, we showcase a mobile application–based citizen science campaign (in Finnish: Muuttolintujen kevät), an automated bird sound classifier of Finnish birds. Over a single season (2023), the method attracted 140,000 participants who uploaded close to three million recordings containing six million bird observations. We report the spatial and temporal distribution of the observations collected, characterize the user behaviour, and discuss reliability of the user-based validations of the AI-powered species identifications. To circumvent data quality problems that characterize many citizen science projects, our approach stores the raw audio in a centralized repository, enabling rigorous validation and re-analysis. Mobile application-based citizen science initiatives can be harnessed to probe the state of our environment almost in real time and potentially guide conservation acts in the future.
Keywords: birds; ornithology; animal sounds; determination of species; mobile apps; artificial intelligence; citizen science; crowdsourcing; nature conservation; validation
Free keywords: biomonitoring; birds; bird sound recognition; Finland; mobile app; validation
Contributing organizations
Related projects
- Predictive Understanding of Global Biodiversity Dynamics
- Ovaskainen, Otso
- Research Council of Finland
- Predictive Understanding of Global Biodiversity Dynamics
- Ovaskainen, Otso
- Research Council of Finland
- A Planetary Inventory of Life – a New Synthesis Built on Big Data Combined with Novel Statistical Methods
- Ovaskainen, Otso
- European Commission
- Breaking the wall between professional science and citizen science by hyperautomation
- Ovaskainen, Otso
- European Commission
- BIODIVERSITY DIGITAL TWIN FOR ADVANCED SIMULATION, MODELLING AND PREDICTION CAPABILITIES
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- European Commission
Ministry reporting: Yes
VIRTA submission year: 2024
Preliminary JUFO rating: 2