The SCORE sensors catalogue & the CCLL process

Local communities in the Coastal City Living Labs are directly involved in the process through citizen science activities with low-cost sensors and participatory mapping initiatives. Data and information collected are directly uploaded into the SCORE ICT platform and used to complement institutional data and validate models for the SCORE early warning support system.

Coastal monitoring is expensive and difficult, often relies solely on high-cost standard instruments and with a limited spatial and temporal resolution.

SCORE aims at reducing the vulnerability to coastal hazards through the use of a dense network of low-cost sensors and empowering citizens by involving them in the co-monitoring of hazards.

Such low-cost sensors in addition to providing consistent marine data for trend analysis, or early warning system, are to be used to monitor the effectiveness of the various EBA’s to be implemented within SCORE. 

The discussion, guided by the key questions below has led to the identification of high level targets for each CCLL  in terms of environmental variables to be monitored  by citizens.

Hazards have been mapped in the 10 CCLL through stakeholder engagement workshops last year.

This information has been analysed and has the selection of the final set of low-cost sensors that included in the catalogue (see Task 4.2). 

A careful review of grey and scientific literature aimed at identifying and specifying low-cost sensing technologies to address the CCLL needs.

The review was constrained to sources like hackster.io and expertise of the SCORE partners were used in selecting such low-cost sensors.

This has allowed identifying in scientific and grey literature the most suitable and up-to-date low-cost technologies in terms of performances and suitability to DIY citizen science activities. A catalogue of sensing technologies has been prepared and will be updated throughout the project.

The SCORE Sensor Catalogue is a collection of sensing technologies, designed to empower citizens and local stakeholders in co-designing and co-monitoring environmental parameters. Through collaboration with scientific literature and community input, the catalogue identifies the most suitable and up-to-date sensors for DIY citizen science activities, ensuring a tailored fit for each community's needs.

Currently, ongoing usability improvements being made based on feedback with frontrunners CCLLs. The catalogue will also host the sensor onboarding procedures.

As part of T4.3 we are currently developing onboarding procedures for the low-cost sensors selected under T4.2 'SCORE Sensors Catalogues".

The aim is to empower citizens in assembling and deploying sensors either independently or through workshops organised under the SCORE Project and create a process for capturing the data these sensors will output. Initial versions of the onboarding process for a number of sensors have been outlined on the Task Miro board below.

The onboarding platform will offer clear and concise instructions for citizens when assembling and deploying sensors. This includes:

• lists of components required for some sensors,
• step by step assembly instructions,
• troubleshooting techniques to address issues that citizens may encounter
• and step by step process to register data from the sensor with the SCORE Sensor Things API (STA).

5 CCLL have already selected, purchased and deployed the sensors with the local community

• Sligo
• Dublin
• Vilanova
• Oeiras
• Massa

Five groups selected environmental sensors for purchase with a budget of €20,000 using the catalogue as a resource. They then mapped the sensors using a geosurvey, identifying stakeholders, barriers, and management strategies. The results will help inform the core team's decision on the final set of sensors and the groups involved in their deployment.

• Participants grouped by expertise and interest (5 teams) 
  • Group A - Air Quality
  • Group B - Precipitation, Atmospheric Pressure, Air Temperature
  • Group C - Shoreline & Topography
  • Group D - Water Level / Surface Wave
  • Group E - Water Quality
• Brief presentation: SCORE project and ongoing activities
• Live-demo 'SCORE Sensors Catalogue'
  • Use the catalogue shopping cart to select a number of sensors for the DL area

• Live-demo 'SCORE Sensors in Dún Laoghaire' geosurvey
  • Identify locations for the sensors
  • Identify public stakeholders to engage in the citizen science activities (eg., schools, community groups, etc.)
  • Identify technical stakeholders to deploy it (eg. ESB, Irish Rail, etc.) and their role
  • Identify barriers, permissions, specialist intervention 
  • Identify a management strategy (e.g., role, schedule, resources)
  • Identify uses for the data
• Group presentations
• Final discussion

Sensor Selection Web App

The interactive Web App bellow allows users to explore detailed descriptions and suggested locations for each sensor proposed, offering insights into their functionalities and potential contributions to monitoring local environmental parameters. Users have the ability to filter by multiple variables such as sensor type, group, and which stakeholders may be interested.