More iPhone citizen science: iNaturalist and Project Noah

Since I first wrote about citizen science apps for the iPhone in 2009, over 350,000 new applications have been released, and GPS is now a standard feature in the less expensive iPod touch. It's easier and cheaper for naturalists of all ages to collect data using handheld devices.

Over the past week, I've been trying out 2 applications, iNaturalist and Project Noah, that allow you to input and geotag species sightings.

iNaturalist (website | app)

Pros:

• Doesn't require a photo in order to make a submission
• Seems to be aimed at naturalists, educators and scientists.
• Open data - anyone can download the submissions for use in their own research.
• Simple but beautiful and easy-to-use website
• Anyone can add a place (like a park or natural region) and add species to it. I added Ottawa's greenbelt, and the species I submitted within that region were automatically added.

Cons:

• Much smaller userbase than Project Noah, meaning you may be the only user in your area (or in my case, country).
• iPhone app is still very limited -- pretty much the only thing you can do in the current version is add a sighting.  You can't view others' sightings, and you can't add a photo from your camera roll.  You can add photos later from your computer. If you add a sighting on the web site, it doesn't sync back to the app.
• The projects (specific data collection missions you can join) are still few in number and limited to a few locations. This is probably a result of the small userbase.  Anyone can create a project.

 

Project Noah (website | app)

Makes collecting data purposeful and fun, more accessible to non-naturalists

Pros

• You can earn badges by finding species. I can see how the broader public appeal would bring in more data. It's like Foursquare, but useful!
• You can join missions -- photographing pollinators or moths, for example.  The missions may be tied to specific research projects, or just for fun.
• Adding a sighting is easy, and the app uses icons to help you select an ID.

Cons

• You can't add a sighting in the app without uploading a photo, meaning you can't add birds you've identified by call.
• Requires you to sign in with a 3rd party service, like Facebook or Google, instead of creating your own login. Some may find this a convenience, others may balk at having a public profile tied to their GPS whereabouts.
• Data appears to be closed -- unlike iNaturalist, you can't download sighting data or add parks/projects.
• Map is clunky to navigate (the scroll wheel zoom function is disabled for some reason).
• Although it's more friendly to novice naturalists than iNaturalist, its data is less useful as a result. Project Noah is overrun with "sightings" of cats and houseplants.

Summary:

Project Noah seems like a good first nature app for kids, but is too limited for science at the high school level and above.  The open nature of iNaturalist makes it a great choice for environmental science curricula and nature enthusiasts of all types.  The ability to create a delineated study area on the map and catalog species within is a great tool.  I hope they'll improve the iPhone app, or make the regular site more mobile-friendly.

Note: Like many GPS apps, these make your exact location a matter of public record -- don't submit sightings from your backyard if you value your privacy.