News

You find the latest research and updates from the Geo-Wiki project under the following three topics:

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News

2015-07-09 FotoQuest Austria is the app of the week

The Austrian TV show "heute konkret" presented FotoQuest Austria as their app of the week. More on tvthek.orf.at (german)

2015-04-10 Crowdsourcing in the developing world is helping understand the earth

Researchers on the CrowdLand project, funded by the EU’s European Research Council, are building mobile games and apps in order to get people to send them pictures, observations and location-specific information on land cover using their cameraphones, in the hope they can use the data to generate better land use maps. More on horizon-magazine.eu

2015-03-30 Citizen scientists map global forests

New global forest maps combine citizen science with multiple data sources, for an unprecedented level of accuracy about the location and extent of forestland worldwide. New maps of global forest cover from IIASA’s Geo-Wiki team provide a more accurate view of global forests. The maps were published in the journal Remote Sensing of the Environment, and are freely available for exploration and download on the Geo-Wiki web site. More on iiasa.ac.at, ibtimes.co.uk, wired.de (german)

2015-01-16 Finding Farmland: New maps offer a clearer view of global agriculture

Science daily (amongst another 31 news stories and blogs) reports on our new global cropland map combining multiple satellite data sources, reconciled using crowdsourced accuracy checks, to provide an improved record of total cropland extent as well as field size around the world. Knowing where agricultural land is located is crucial for regional and global food security planning, and information on field size offers valuable insight into local economic conditions.  Two new global maps, released on 16 January 2015 in the journal Global Change Biology, provide a significant step forward in global cropland information on these two topics. More on sciencedaily.com, iiasa.ac.at

2014-10-13 Beyond sharing Earth observations

Land cover is of fundamental importance for environmental research. It  serves as critical baseline information for many large-scale models, for example in developing future scenarios of land use and climate change. However, current land cover products are not accurate enough for many applications and to improve them we need better and more accessible validation data. We recently argued this point in a Nature correspondence. read more

2014-06-07 Global land cover uncovered: Citizen scientists help identify arable land to feed the world 

In order to fully understand how land is being used for food production and foresee how land use will change in the future, reliable crop maps are essential. Not only can crop maps help identify yield gaps and monitor crops affected by drought, they can also help tackle environmental issues. As agricultural expansion is a major cause of deforestation, knowing where new crops are grown could assist calculations of additional greenhouse gas emissions, useful for initiatives to reduce emissions from deforestation, or determining the implications of climate change on crop production. read more

2014-05-01 "Cropland Capture": Forscher lassen Spieler Ackerland suchen 

Für viele Anwendungen sind Karten gefragt, auf denen weltweit möglichst alle Ackerbauflächen eingezeichnet sind - die vorhandenen wären unzuverlässig und hätten zu viele "weiße Flecken", erklärte der Biogeograph Steffen Fritz der APA am Rande der Generalversammlung der European Geosciences Union (EGU) Donnerstag in Wien. Diese Informationslücke könne jedoch die Internet-Spieler-Gemeinde füllen. read more

2014-01-29 Gamification and your life

One of the trends TomorrowToday has been tracking for several years is that of Gamification. Simply put, this reflects that reality that just as social networking, search engines, and online media have changed the way we live, so too has the prevalence of computer gaming. read more

2014-01-25 How online gamers are solving science's biggest problems

A new generation of online games don't just provide entertainment – they help scientists solve puzzles involving genes, conservation and the universe. read more

2014-01-14 ERC funds IIASA crowdsourcing project

The European Research Council has awarded a highly competitive Consolidator Grant to Steffen Fritz, leader and creator of IIASA’s citizen science project, Geo-Wiki. read more

2013-12-02 I'm Not Just Gaming, Ma! I'm Helping The World's Farmers

There's no easy way to track all of the world's crops. What's missing, among other things, is an accurate map showing where they are. But the people behind Geo-Wiki are hoping to fix that, with a game called Cropland Capture. They're turning people like you and me into data gatherers, or citizen scientists, to help identify cropland. read more

2013-12-02 The Real-Life Version of 'FarmVille'

If the pixelated livestock and cartoon crops of "FarmVille" never captured your imagination, we have a new game for you. It may be less flashy, but "Cropland Capture" has something going for it that your Facebook farm could never claim: Your playing has a real impact on global agriculture. read more

2013-11-15 Cropland Capture game brings citizen science to global food research

IIASA’s GeoWiki project today released a new game, Cropland Capture, which turns global land cover research into an addictive game for computer, tablet, and smartphone users. read more

Newsletters

Summer 2016 - Download

Special topic:> Cropland validation campaign, Picture Paint, Citizen Science Day

Spring 2016 - Download

Special topic: Geo-Wiki pictures and FotoQuest Austria 2016

Winter 2016 - Download

Special topic: Science Publication, Picture Pile progress, CAP-BAN

Autumn 2015 - Download

Special topic: Picture Pile and LACO-Wiki

Summer 2015 - Download

Special topic: FotoQuest Austria campaign

Spring 2015 - Download

Special topic: Making Headlines in the Media, Call for a special issue, Stakeholder survey

Winter 2014/2015 - Download

Special topic: Geo-Wiki pictures, Growers' Nation, Global hybrid cropland map

Summer 2014 - Download

Special topic: 6 trips, 6 countries, 6 stories

May 2014 - Download

Special topic: Cropland Capture winners

April 2014 - Download

Special topic: ERC Grant - a story from Kenya

March 2014 - Download

Special topic: Cropland Capture game updates

February 2014 - Download

Special topic: ERC funds IIASA crowdsourcing project

January 2014 - Download

Special topic: Geo-Wiki and Crowdsourcing at the AGU

December 2013 - Download

Special topic: Biofuels and Land Availability

November 2013 - Download

Special topic: Introducing our newsletter and the new Geo-Wiki

Media