Deep Lake Explorer: Using Citizen Science to Analyze Underwater Video from the Great Lakes

Session: Great Lakes Citizen Science: Leveraging Our Love of the Lakes (1)

Molly Wick, EPA, Oak Ridge Institute for Science, [email protected]
Mari Nord, U.S. EPA Region 5, [email protected]
Matthew Pawlowski, EPA-Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, [email protected]
Rick Debbout, CSRA, [email protected]
Jonathan Launspach, CSRA, [email protected]
David Bolgrien, US Environmental Protection Agency, [email protected]
Theodore Angradi, U.S. EPA Mid-Continent Ecology Division, [email protected]

Abstract

Deep Lake Explorer is a web application on the Zooniverse.org platform that allows citizen scientists to analyze underwater video from the Great Lakes National Coastal Condition Assessment (NCCA) for the presence of invasive species like dreissenid mussels and round goby. Interpretation of underwater video is often challenging due to water clarity, lighting, and camera movement. Deep Lake Explorer’s value relies on the consensus of many users’ interpretations of each video clip to build precision. Beta-testing of Deep Lake Explorer Phase 1, which included marginal-quality videos collected as part of the National Coastal Condition Assessment in 2010 and 2015, found that users’ ability to identify invasive species was limited. In 2017 and 2018, we collected 206 videos in Lake Ontario, Lake Huron, and the Niagara River using an improved video collection system with a stable frame and higher-resolution cameras. Phase 2 tests user’s abilities to identify invasive species and habitat characteristics in these higher-quality videos. Here we provide preliminary results from the beta-test of Deep Lake Explorer Phase 2. Deep Lake Explorer’s ability to facilitate user consensus, paired with improved video collection technology, will allow timely and effective analysis of underwater video collected in future iterations of the Great Lakes NCCA.