Phenology is the study of periodic plant and animal life cycle events and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate. As such, phenology is something that is a part of all of our lives and it is a powerful tool for engaging the general public in climate science. Because phenology is all around us, it is a field where observations are being recorded by a very broad range of observers, including students of all ages, professional researchers, farmers, and various types of hobbyists. This creates tremendous opportunities to engage a very large number of observers in recording phenology observations, which is an important component in creating the kinds of continental scale ecological data important to a range of climate models, commercial systems (such as those in agriculture), and decision support tools. Creating an information systems framework which balances the needs for ease of data entry by a broad range of observers against the needs for research-quality data presents particular challenges.
Results/Conclusions
In this talk, we will present the constraints which drive the tools being developed by the USA National Phenology Network, the ways in which those constraints are being addressed by the USA NPN information systems, and the lessons learned from this work that can be applied to other types of observation networks that involve broad ranges of observers, including citizen scientists.
