Building an IT Infrastructure for Citizen Science Research on Climate Change

Due to the far-reaching consequences of climate change, extensive adaptation and climate protection measures are becoming necessary not only on a global, but in particular on more regional scales. Such measures need to embrace citizens for their success, on an educational as well as a participatory level. For Bavaria, Germany, the BAYSICS project (Bavarian Citizen Science Portal for Climate Research and Science Communication) aims to achieve (1) innovative digital forms of citizens’ participation in climate change research, (2) transfer of knowledge on the complexity of climate change and its local consequences, and (3) joint scientific and environmental education goals. Within the project we develop two main tools for citizens, an interactive web portal and smartphone app. As the project processes data collected by citizens, careful considerations are necessary, especially on legal issues (e.g. copyright), the privacy of citizens, and the credibility of data. Data collected by the citizens are visualized on the interactive web portal. Additionally, the data will be available for download through the web portal. Thus, clear metadata (e.g. on relevant attributes and data usage license) needs to be included. To increase the credibility of data, data collection guideline for citizens and the application of trust metrics to data are considered.