https://ec.europa.eu/jrc Contact

Big Data for Environment

Policy Context. Big Data has been identified as a

driver for innovation and growth (data-driven

innovation) and the potentials of Big Data to

improve policy making has been recognized, but

the methods and tools for appropriate data-

handling still have to be established. The 7th

Environmental Action Program (7th EAP) provides a

specific case for using extracted knowledge to meet

long-term policy targets.

Introduction. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) recognized the growing importance of Big Data and the related needs for scientific and technical support to EU-level policy making. Complementing the ongoing piloting activities on Big Data for Earth Observation and Social Sensing, our work particularly concentrates on the innovative use of existing sources, such as social media platforms and heterogeneous sensor webs. The graphic below highlights some of our recent examinations.

Sven Schade

European Commission • Joint Research Centre

Digital Earth and Reference Data Unit

Email: sven.schade@jrc.ec.europa.eu

Tel. +39 0332 78 5723

Next Steps. We will continue to exploit the use of Big Data for spatio-temporal data analytics, especially in support of the combined use of (i) public sector information, including official statistics and environmental monitoring; (ii) commercial data sources, such as mobile phone data of data from social media; and (iii) data owned by citizen, especially by Citizen Science initiatives. Future activates will particularly target the knowledge base for environment-related policy making, and the Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS).

Scientific Context. Increasing amounts of data

sets and streams challenge the optimal

provision of scientific data-driven evidence for

decision-making (e.g. use of new integrative

models and indicators). Research and

innovation needs to leverage the potential of

Big Data for official statistics, environmental

monitoring, behavioral analytics, etc.

20152014

with contributions from: Massimo Craglia, Davide De Marchi, Irene Eleta, Hildegard Gerlach, Jacopo Grazzini, Jiří Hradec, Alexander Kotsev, Frank Ostermann, Nicole Ostländer,

Francesco Pantisano, Elena Roglia, Cristina Rosales Sanchez, Sven Schade, Spyridon Spyratos, Chrisa Tsinaraki, Lorenzino Vaccari, Levente Juhász and Sergi Trilles

Testing the potentials of browser-based 3D viewers compared to desktop applications

Using Foursquare to complement authoritative vector data

Enabling real-time event detection from sensor networks

Analysing social habits and the shared economy using peer-to-peer ride-sharing platforms, such as BlaBlaCar

Exploring the use of mobile network operator data for

estimating population density

Complementing official forest fire data with event detection using Twitter and Flickr

Shaping the research directions for the Environmental Sensor Web

Setting the Sensor Web into the context of the Future Internet

Investigating data management principles in Citizen Science

projects and initiatinga data repository

Using of social media to derive new indicator for

Quality of Life (QoL)

Innovating visualisation of complex

metadata

Using new database technologies to store and query social media data

Using social network analysis to sense social behaviour

Use of social media and brief on-line surveys to complement traditional mechanisms

Designing a low-cost service-enabled sensing platform for the environment