Adding scalability for the acquisition, processing, and dissemination of data from expanding citizen science programs through an automated data management pipeline

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC), an initiative of the University of Victoria, operates world-leading ocean observatories and data repository services. ONC gained expertise from the installation and maintenance of the cabled VENUS and NEPTUNE observatories, and on the foundation provided by the Oceans 2.0 data management and archival system. ONC has significantly added to its ability to monitor the ocean in near real-time through the development of community based monitoring programs that utilize purpose-built mobile application software to aid non-science users in oceanographic data collection. Data collected by community members (commonly referred to as "Citizen Science") is a concept that continues to evolve with changing technology, data demands, and collection techniques. Since 2015 ONC has supported and co-developed citizen science programs that have collected conductivity-temperature-depth, oxygen, and fluorometer data from over 6,000 water profiles in the Salish Sea. To support these mature programs, and allow for the expansion of additional programs and instrument types, ONC has developed a purpose-built "Community Fishers" application and automated data processing model. The Community Fishers application allows oceanographic profiling instruments to be paired with a tablet for direct data acquisition from the instrument to the tablet via Wifi or Bluetooth, and data transfer from the application to Oceans 2.0 data repository. After water profile data are archived in the Oceans 2.0 database, an automated processing pipeline assigns the data to a geospatial location and post-processes it using default parameters appropriate to the instrument type, platform, and citizen science program requirements. Users have the option to request the water profile data with customized post-processing parameters applied. A geospatial portal allows users to easily find, preview, and access data products from multiple citizen science programs in several interoperable formats. In future versions, the automated data processing pipeline may extend to other water-column measurement platforms such as profiling moorings and buoys, ship-based observations, and ocean gliders.