Citizen science approaches for water quality measurements

Sara Blanco Ramírez; Ilja van Meerveld; Jan Seibert

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165436

Citizen science approaches for water quality measurements

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Nov 1:897:165436. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165436. Epub 2023 Jul 9.

Authors

Sara Blanco Ramírez¹, Ilja van Meerveld², Jan Seibert³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland. Electronic address: sara.blanco@geo.uzh.ch.
² Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland.
³ Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland; Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.

PMID: 37433338
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165436

Abstract

Citizen science has become a widely used approach in water quality studies. Although there are literature reviews about citizen science and water quality assessments, an overview of the most commonly used methods and their strengths and weaknesses is still lacking. Therefore, we reviewed the scientific literature on citizen science for surface water quality assessments and examined the methods and strategies used by the 72 studies that fulfilled our search criteria. Special attention was given to the parameters monitored, the monitoring tools, and the spatial and temporal resolution of the data collected in these studies. In addition, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches used in water quality assessments and their potential to complement traditional hydrological monitoring and research.

Keywords: Literature review; Methods; Spatial temporal resolution; Volunteer water quality monitoring.

Publication types

Review