Flyover Country, a mobile app for geoscience education

该奖项将开发一款名为Flyover Country （FC）的移动应用程序，通过在用户登机前下载基于飞行路径的数据条，在飞行中向用户提供有关相关兴趣点（POI）和地图数据的信息，而无需使用机上Wi-Fi。GPS（全球定位系统）在飞行模式下运行，可以精确跟踪飞行，并及时提示POI查看。每天大约有450万人乘坐飞机，FC的潜在受众是巨大的，它在地球科学推广方面的潜力也是巨大的。该应用程序将在激发用户好奇心的时候直接向用户提供高质量的地球科学信息，从而提高公众的科学素养，并激励和支持一代地球科学家的发展。FC也可以很容易地用于STEM教育，其结构将为所有类型的地理空间地球科学数据提供一个平台，形成新的教育和研究基础设施。通过结合地图视图、文章、音频、视觉辅助工具和从飞机窗口鸟瞰地球科学的可视化，将允许科学家和公众培养新的问题、想法、关系和灵感。此外，FC可以改善数据可访问性的现状和数据集集成的潜力，同时增加在地球科学和其他领域改进数据发现的激励。应用程序的开发将分为两个主要任务：(1)地图和POI的地理空间获取，这可以在设备（服务器端）完成，(2)设备上的用户界面，请求，下载和显示收集的数据。FC将同时适用于iOS和Android设备。除了支持从飞机窗口进行非正式学习外，该系统还具有很大的潜力，可以用于地面使用。在内容和范围上与流行的路边地质学系列书籍相似，手机应用程序可以在公路旅行或徒步旅行中提供相关的地球科学信息，即使在没有网络连接的情况下也可以这样做。

This award will develop a mobile app, Flyover Country (FC), that will bring information about relevant points of interest (POI) and map data to the user mid-flight, without the need for in-flight Wi-Fi, by downloading a strip of data based on the flightpath before the user boards the plane. GPS (Global Positioning System), which functions in airplane mode, allows precise flight tracking, making prompts for POI viewing timely and relevant. With around 4.5 million people flying every day, the potential audience for FC is huge, as is its potential for geoscience outreach. The app will directly feed high-quality geoscience information to the user at the very point when curiosity is stimulated, and could thus improve public science literacy as well as inspiring and supporting the development of a generation of geoscientists. FC could also readily be adapted for use in STEM education, and will be structured so as to provide a platform for the exposure of all types of geospatial geoscience data, forming new infrastructure for education and research. Visualization of geoscience through combining map views, articles, audio, visual aids, and the bird's eye view from a plane window will allow for new questions, ideas, relationships, and inspiration to be cultivated by scientists and the public alike. In addition, FC may improve the current state of data accessibility and the potential for dataset integration while simultaneously increasing the incentives for improving data discovery in the geosciences and beyond. Development of the app will be split into two main tasks: (1) the geospatial acquisition of maps and POI, which may be accomplished off the device (server-side), and (2) an on-device user interface that requests, downloads, and displays the gathered data. FC will be available for both iOS and Android devices. In addition to supporting informal learning from the airplane window, this system has great potential to be adapted for ground level use. Similar in content and scope to the popular Roadside Geology book series, a mobile app could present relevant geoscience information on road trips or hikes, and do so even where connectivity is absent.