The Missing Maps

Identifying the metagenomic sequencing for new outbreaks of viruses can help to better assess how the virus is spreading, which in turn helps health officials figure out how to slow down the contagion. In the midst of a coronavirus outbreak, a tool that was first used to during the SARS outbreak is now being used to track Covid-19 in under-resourced places such as Cambodia.

Tree mapping helps researchers understand deforestation and climate change, however the technologies used often miss trees that aren’t clustered. Researchers, in collaboration with NASA, used high-resolution satellite images, previously only available to commercial entities, to find a surprisingly large number of trees in the Sahara Desert. Using AI deep learning and one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers at the University of Illinois, they identified more than 1.8 billion trees, manually marking nearly 90,000 so the computer could “learn” which shapes and shadows indicated the presence of trees.

Efforts to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing also make fishermen safer at sea. Vessel Monitoring Mechanisms (VMM) and electronic catch documentation (eCDT) track the origin of fish headed to market, part of an international effort to ensure sustainable and equitable practices. Data transmission also makes fishermen safer, relaying their locations from hundreds of miles out at sea. In the Philippines, a partnership between Futuristic Aviation and Maritime Enterprise (FAME) and USAID Oceans and Fisheries Partnership helps cover subscription fees for FAME radio transmitter service.

As conservationists around the world grapple with saving endangered species, many have turned to the tech sector. Initiatives like The Zooniverse, a citizen science platform for people-powered research, are helping expand over 90 different projects. Even more, scientists have started directly collaborating with technologists to develop products, like weather-resistant cameras for capturing penguins in Antarctica, specially for their work.

For individuals wanting to store their guns outside of their homes, they can now find a space using the Colorado Gun Storage Map. The interactive tool was developed in collaboration between the Colorado School of Public Health, the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and the Colorado Safety Coalition, with the goal of helping those in crisis situations find spaces like law enforcement agencies and special storage facilities to store their firearms.

Crowdsourcing data allows developers to help those with limited mobility find accessible routes. The AccessMap Seattle project, in collaboration with the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology at the University of Washington and OpenStreetMap, has tested and is improving a map where users can find and edit information about the elevation of rotes, sidewalks, and crosswalks to serve those who are challenged with their mobility.

Citizen, a crime-tracking app that first made an appearance in New York and California, has launched in Baltimore, Maryland, a city with a crime rate that has skyrocketed in recent years. Alerting community members to crime happening at specific locations via curation by city safety officials, the app aims to help people feel more informed and safer while complementing more traditional emergency services.

The University of Washington and Northwestern tribes have partnered to use their collective knowledge to create an online tool that helps regional tribes prepare for the effects of climate change. The tools uses climate forecasting that depicts how different resources in the region will be affected at a hyper-local level. The tool itself is a result of Western science, but researchers say the inputted data and information would not have been possible without the nuanced Indigenous knowledge.

Squids play an important role in the ecosystem, so scientists are focusing efforts on better understanding how the species adapts to climate change. By creating a "FitBit for squid," scientists have successfully been able to monitor soft-bodied invertebrates.

The city of Houston is changing its approach to measuring the full scope of damage from Hurricane Harvey so it can get help where it is most needed and improve future flood mitigation. Using data from numerous sources, Civis Analytics found unmet housing needs were far greater than initially recorded and low-income areas were hit disproportionately harder, even though recovery funding often goes to areas with higher housing values. Now city officials are working to implement solutions based on the data in order to allocate limited funds where they will be most effective.