Aligning GLOBE Observer Mosquito Habitat Mapper and Land Cover Citizen Science Datasets to Open Geospatial Consortium Standards

Citizen scientists are producing Earth science data at a velocity, volume, and variety that offers significant and unique contributions to scientific research. However, the potential of these citizen science datasets are often untapped due to conflicting data standards that reduce their interoperability. To address this, the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) presents a standard for geospatial data to promote interoperability through shared definitions and conventions between various datasets. In this project, GLOBE Observer Mosquito Habitat Mapper (MHM) and Land Cover (LC) datasets served as the first test case for implementing this approach with citizen science data. As part of this alignment procedure, we templated key geospatial fields, described relevant columns, detailed data collection tools used in the field, and highlighted important research areas the datasets seek to address. Ultimately, we cross-walked the metadata of GLOBEs legacy database structure to OGC standards, thus improving the future interoperability of these citizen science datasets. This OGC alignment for GLOBE Observer MHM and LC data can serve as a template to crosswalk other specialized GLOBE datasets to a broader, more current standard. Our work contributes to ensuring that citizen science data is comparable and accessible across projects via the Citizen Science Cloud Platform. This work was conducted in conjunction with the Global Earth Challenge, a joint initiative by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (The Wilson Center), EARTHDAY.ORG, and the U.S. Department of State to create an accessible and transparent citizen science data portal as part of a broader citizen science initiative.