Last time I posted a photo of my community, it has got 18 dumpsites. These are illegal dumpsites by law but not much is being done to control the situation. I volunteer part of my time with a community based youth organization that has been working to raise awareness among the residents of this community. From the year 2017, when this started, not much progress has been registered to curb the behavior. Even understanding of the behavior has been crippled by lack of necessary tools to capture vital information, what kind of waste materials are disposed on daily basis and also what days of the week do people dispose least/maximum amount of waste. While that these questions have left me with a lot to be desired, I want to explore if there have been developments to tap the potential of smartphones to capture this information. Extending my question, are there techniques similar to those that are used in land cover change detection that have been customized for these kinds of problems. Looking forward to learn from others.
Hello! I suppose You may use GPS localization, and photo camera to provide the information from community (people can send You picture of fulfilled disposal for example and You can localize it online in a map). Check please application like MyTracs or LocusMap.
We used these application to localize piles of garbage in the area of informal greenery (wastelands) in Warsaw. Please see our publication we have explained the method there. Regards, Beata
Hi Patrick. Smartphone camera can be very useful thing to achieve your goals. I usually use free software called "open camera" which makes geotagged photos. I have verified georeference accuracy at several geodetic points and its high enough. Of course, it would be better to use satellite images in addition. If u have any additional questions I would be glad to answer, my mail - [email protected]
Beata Joanna Gawryszewska Thanks for sharing with me about applications like MyTracs and LocusMap. I used services provided by a website called open litter map to capture images of dumpsites in my community and plot them on a map (as in the attached graphic). However i would like to move an extra step forward. I would like to capture literally the same image of a dumpsite and run algorithms to detect changes. But i also find it very important that you should share with me links to your publications for studies which you did in Warsaw. Thanks in advance. Regards, Patrick.
Ruslan Shevchuk Thanks for reference to an application called Open Camera. I downloaded the application onto my phone. Indeed as you mentioned, the accuracy of the location captured by the application is as good as using a GPS receiver. Yet it continue to leave me with a lot of things to be desired. Starting with a need to do a change assessment on waste which has been disposed.
Alternatively, i have realized that for what i want requires completely a new technology which has not been developed yet. I mean there is a need to create a technology very accurate and robust that it can capture two photos of the same location where everything i.e. the angle etc will be literally the same so that it could be possible to detect changes.
I have attached a set of three photos. The photos are literally the same (angle and height from which they were captured was maintained) and the only difference is the the presence of a notebook in one of the photos. So i attempted to use simple simple image subtraction to detect the changes between the two pictures and the output is as the last photo. Whats clear is that, we have been able to visualize the differences of photo 1 and photo 2 in the same graphic file. I hope that a lot of things can be done beyond this to only visualize the book only.
If this can be being done appropriately, one can design a physical stand that can help one to capture images of dumpsites that maintain properties which were maintained in the images attached. I know, there is a lot to be desired. Now this coupled with the use of the GPS receiver of a mobile phone, we can accurately detect the differences in peoples waste disposal behaviors. i.e. to know the days which people dispose more waste materials and the type of the materials...
Dear Patrick,
what you did so far is great. however if you want to monitor the situation then this is a change detection analysis using satellite imagery and multi-temporal LULC maps. to do that you need hi resolution satellite imagery. google engine can be a good start for that. on the other hand, the photos you are taking with your smartphone are very useful and will be useful for at least two purposes: keep evidence for small scattered dumping sites which can be difficult to monitor with satellites, second these photos will be valuable as ground truths when you produce your accurate multi-temporal LC maps...
Have you considered using drones / UAV to do a comparative topology scan (monthly change recognition, for example)? The typical DJI drone will provide 1" resolution, which is much better than GoogleMaps' 1 foot resolution by 12:1 factor.
Then you can use commercial map products online or this open source version: https://www.opendronemap.org/
Finally, you run a comparison of the periodic flight surveys to show either a 2-d or 3-d growth of trash in volume... using Real-time Kinematics (RTK) this is possible commercially by drones made easy: https://support.dronesmadeeasy.com/hc/en-us/articles/206292003-Volumetrics-Tool
These may work better for larger dump sites, but they will definitely augment the man on the street with a cell phone level you're at right now.
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