Validity and Reliability of Drainage Infrastructure Monitoring Data Obtained from Citizen Scientists

Oti, Isaac C.; Gharaibeh, Nasir G.; Hendricks, Marccus D.; Meyer, Michelle A.; Zandt, Shannon Van; Masterson, Jaimie Hicks; Horney, Jennifer A.; Berke, Philip

doi:10.1061/(asce)is.1943-555x.0000495

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Where such practices bridge the Global North and South, data extraction absent anything else echoes colonial exploitation [ 205 ]. Additionally, there are issues of biased inclusion in terms of the populations that are invited to participate in traditional Citizen Science [ 223 , 224 ], with the most marginalized groups likely to be left out [ 220 , 221 , 225 , 226 ]. Likewise, there is biased participation in the crowdsourcing of information [ 227 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of cumulative advantage and threats to equity in open science: a scoping review

et al. 2022

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Open Science holds the promise to make scientific endeavours more inclusive, participatory, understandable, accessible and re-usable for large audiences. However, making processes open will not per se drive wide reuse or participation unless also accompanied by the capacity (in terms of knowledge, skills, financial resources, technological readiness and motivation) to do so. These capacities vary considerably across regions, institutions and demographics. Those advantaged by such factors will remain potentially privileged, putting Open Science's agenda of inclusivity at risk of propagating conditions of ‘cumulative advantage’. With this paper, we systematically scope existing research addressing the question: ‘What evidence and discourse exists in the literature about the ways in which dynamics and structures of inequality could persist or be exacerbated in the transition to Open Science, across disciplines, regions and demographics?’ Aiming to synthesize findings, identify gaps in the literature and inform future research and policy, our results identify threats to equity associated with all aspects of Open Science, including Open Access, Open and FAIR Data, Open Methods, Open Evaluation, Citizen Science, as well as its interfaces with society, industry and policy. Key threats include: stratifications of publishing due to the exclusionary nature of the author-pays model of Open Access; potential widening of the digital divide due to the infrastructure-dependent, highly situated nature of open data practices; risks of diminishing qualitative methodologies as ‘reproducibility’ becomes synonymous with quality; new risks of bias and exclusion in means of transparent evaluation; and crucial asymmetries in the Open Science relationships with industry and the public, which privileges the former and fails to fully include the latter.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of cumulative advantage and threats to equity in open science: a scoping review

et al. 2022

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“…However, such manual methods can be time consuming and subjective, especially when utilizing quantitative measurements (Lee & Gharaibeh, 2020). To address this challenge, Oti et al (2019) developed citizen science methods for collecting drainage condition data. Although Oti et al (2019) found that volunteer citizen scientists can provide timely and high-quality data related to the conditions of drainage systems, they tend to have difficulties obtaining some geometric measurements, such as ditch slope.…”

Section: Review Of the Literature And Current Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality of Stormwater Infrastructure Systems in Vulnerable Communities: Three Case Studies from Texas

Gharaibeh

Lee

Alhalbouni

et al. 2023

Public Works Management & Policy

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A properly functioning local stormwater drainage system is essential for mitigating flood risks. This study evaluates the quality of roadside drainage channels in three underserved communities in Texas: the Sunnyside neighborhood in Houston (Harris County), a neighborhood in the City of Rockport (Aransas County), and the Hoehn colonia (Hidalgo County). These communities have a history of flooding, are highly socially vulnerable, and rely on roadside ditches as their principal stormwater drainage system for runoff control. Mobile lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) measurements were collected for 6.09 miles of roadside channels in these communities. The raw lidar measurements were processed to evaluate drainage conditions based on the channel’s geometric properties, hydraulic capacity, and level of service. The assessment results are linked to a Geographic Information System (GIS) tool for enhanced visualization. Finally, the paper provides insights regarding the quality of stormwater infrastructure in the study communities and discusses their practical implications.

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“…Co-learning and co-production by experts and local residents are strengths of community-driven research because they add localized data points to improve flood mapping (Coburn 2005). Furthermore, real-time data on stormwater infrastructure is largely absent, with assumptions of capacity and quality made based on assumptions around deterioration of the infrastructure from its original quality (Oti et al 2019). Improving data validity through participatory methods will help experts learn about the experience of flooding and flood resilience outside of extreme events and outside of expertly designated floodplains.…”

Section: Tokenismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving Up the Ladder in Rising Waters: Community Science in Infrastructure and Hazard Mitigation Planning as a Pathway to Community Control and Flood Disaster Resilience

Hendricks

Meyer

Wilson

2022

Citizen Science: Theory and Practice

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Public participation is the democratic gateway to more just, inclusive, and resilient communities. However, infrastructure and hazard mitigation planning tends toward topdown, expert-driven processes that fail to meaningfully include communities most at risk of disasters. In this article, we critically examine the potential of citizen science in infrastructure and hazard mitigation planning with a focus on stormwater infrastructure and extreme wet-weather events, as floods are the most common disaster in the US. We review literature on various citizen science approaches, from crowdsourcing to community science, and offer a framework that situates them within Sherry Arnstein's foundational piece on public participation, a "Ladder of Citizen Participation." We discuss the opportunities different participatory methods offer for meaningful public involvement, knowledge generation, and ultimately community control and ownership of stormwater and flood infrastructure. We provide case study examples across the US of how public works departments, emergency management, and related organizations have engaged communities around hazard risks and flooding challenges, and offer recommendations for how these programs can be improved. We conclude that in order to produce data needed to mitigate flood disasters and increase trust and public interest in infrastructure needs, civic participation should be grounded in community science, utilizing a multimedia and technological platform. The methods applied and data generated can be leveraged toward public safety, and provide voice, agency, and power particularly to disenfranchised communities most at risk from current hazards and looming climate change impacts.

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Validity and Reliability of Drainage Infrastructure Monitoring Data Obtained from Citizen Scientists

Cited by 14 publications

References 27 publications

Dynamics of cumulative advantage and threats to equity in open science: a scoping review

Dynamics of cumulative advantage and threats to equity in open science: a scoping review

Quality of Stormwater Infrastructure Systems in Vulnerable Communities: Three Case Studies from Texas

Moving Up the Ladder in Rising Waters: Community Science in Infrastructure and Hazard Mitigation Planning as a Pathway to Community Control and Flood Disaster Resilience

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