RAPID: Rural Loss Estimates of Hurricane Florence Enabled by Citizen Scientists

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This Rapid Response Research (RAPID) project examines the ways in which everyday citizen scientists might be able to effectively collect perishable research-grade damage data following a hurricane that affects rural locales. This research uses Hurricane Florence in 2018 as a test case. The project uniquely leverages networks of journalists in rural areas to actively recruit local citizen scientists to document damage using multiple channels. This project directly enhances the understanding of rural damage from Florence and will impact the immediate recovery of these often marginalized and neglected communities. Furthermore, this research measures and tests the efficacy of citizen-produced versus engineer-collected damage data in rural contexts, validated by ground truth reconnaissance data. This scientific research contribution thus supports NSF's mission to promote the progress of science and to advance our national welfare with benefits that will inform planning to improve the resilience of United States communities, in particular to hurricanes and flooding. If harnessing the untapped potential of citizen scientists to collect large volumes of real-world visual and textual data regarding all levels of hurricane damage in poorer rural agricultural areas affected by Florence proves to be a successful method of collecting damage data, this can transform the ways in which engineers can predict effects from and study these events. Moreover, the new methodologies for rapid activation of journalist and citizen scientist networks developed in this project can be applied to other natural hazards (e.g., tsunamis, earthquakes, wind storms, etc.) engineering efforts beyond the scope of the proposed work that might involve similar remote and rural communities. By engaging the public in participatory science, this work empowers rural citizens to learn about the effects of hurricanes and take ownership of their contributions to this field of research. Findings and data obtained from this study will be rapidly disseminated to the public and research community through interactive and accessible tools available via the DesignSafe cyberinfrastructure..This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.