Volunteered Geographic Information for water management: a prototype architecture

Driven by Web 2.0 and GeoWeb 2.0 technology and the almost ubiquitous presence of mobile devices, Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), and specially citizen science, is knowing an unprecedented growth. These notable advancements have opened fruitful perspectives also in the field of water management and protection, raising the demand for a reconsideration of policies which also takes into account the emerging trend of VGI. This research investigates the opportunity of leveraging such a technology to involve citizens equipped with common mobile devices (e.g. tablets and smart phones) in a campaign of report of water-related phenomena and points of interest. The work is carried out in collaboration with AdbPo - Autorità di bacino del fiume Po (Po river basin Authority), i.e. the entity responsible for the environmental planning and protection of the basin of the Italian river Po. A FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) architecture was designed to enrich AdbPo official database with user-generated contents. More in detail, Open Data Kit suite allows users to collect georeferenced multimedia information using mobile devices equipped with geolocation sensors (e.g. the GPS). Users can report a number of environmental emergencies, problems or simple points of interest related to the Po river basin, taking pictures of them and providing other contextual information. Field-registered data is sent to a server and stored into a PostgreSQL database with PostGIS spatial extension. GeoServer provides then data dissemination on the Web, while an OpenLayers-based viewer is built to allow Web data access. Besides proving the suitability of FOSS in the frame of VGI, the system represents a successful prototype for the exploitation of user local, real-time information aimed at managing and protecting water resources.