UB launches an app to assess riversʼ ecological status with citizensʼ collaboration

RIU.net enables to assess the ecological status of a river in an easy and intuitive way.
RIU.net enables to assess the ecological status of a river in an easy and intuitive way.
Research
(29/09/2014)

Anyone can collaborate in Spanish river research and conservation with his/her smartphone. The research group Freshwater Ecology and Management (FEM) of the University of Barcelona (UB) —led by Narcís Prat, professor from the Department of Ecology— has just created an app that enables to assess the ecological status of a river in an easy and intuitive way and share results with researchers. The app, named RIU.net, is already available for Android devices.

RIU.net enables to assess the ecological status of a river in an easy and intuitive way.
RIU.net enables to assess the ecological status of a river in an easy and intuitive way.
Research
29/09/2014

Anyone can collaborate in Spanish river research and conservation with his/her smartphone. The research group Freshwater Ecology and Management (FEM) of the University of Barcelona (UB) —led by Narcís Prat, professor from the Department of Ecology— has just created an app that enables to assess the ecological status of a river in an easy and intuitive way and share results with researchers. The app, named RIU.net, is already available for Android devices.

The project RIU.net is part of the research carried out by the Citizen Science Office, an initiative fostered by the Creativity and Innovation Directorate of the Barcelona Culture Institute (ICUB). The Office gathers several research groups which seek to promote citizensʼ participation in scientific research by means of collective experiments, considering Horizon 2020 guidelines.

 

A more complete map of riversʼ ecological quality

The ecological status of a river measures aquatic ecosystem health by means of several indicators. The app RIU.net uses as indicators the riparian area and the animals that inhabit the river bed. A mobile phone with camera, internet connection and geolocation system enables you to perform the evaluation of the ecological quality of a stretch of river considering the guidelines established by the Water Framework Directive.

The final aim is to enable app users to collect information about the indicators included in the app and send results to researchers who will verify them. Then, information will be accessible to water managers and citizens. “Thanks to this information, a map of Spanish rivers quality will be elaborated and evaluated by more institutions, besides the assessment performed by Spanish river basin institutions, which only must inform about the ecological quality of a river every three years by providing only one annual sample taken from stretches located ten kilometres far one from each other”, explains Professor Narcís Prat, coordinator of the project.

 
Five levels of river quality

First, users must indicate their position in order to know which river is going to be analysed. Then, the app introduces them to the assessment of the ecological quality of a river. Two tests with different indicators must be completed. The first one deals with hydromorphological quality and analyses eight characteristics, for example the presence of a riparian forest, the speed of water or the presence of litter. The second one collects biological information through the observation of the organisms that inhabit the ecosystem. In order to make it easier, the app shows some photographs to differentiate them. The presence or absence of certain organisms indicates the level of water quality, as some of them can live in polluted rivers but others do not.

Once both tests have been completed, the river is classified into five quality levels. Five colours (blue, green, yellow, orange and red) represent these levels, from the best to the worst ecological status. These colours are also used by Spanish river basin institutions to inform the European Union about the ecological quality of Spanish rivers.

“Obviously, the assessment made with the app RIU.net is not as precise as a professional one, but it will help water managers if any problem, undetected by the official network, appears. It is also a good manner to corroborate if a river has a good ecological status in large stretches located at remote places or in natural parks”, affirms the researcher. Moreover, it is an educative tool for all those people who like visiting river areas and a different way to make them enjoy their day out.

The app RIU.net has been developed together with the Scientific Culture and Innovation Unit (UCC+i) of the Communication Unit of UB and funded by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) - Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. The software has been created by the company Fusta. Funds provided by RecerCaixa finance the server used to receive and manage data sent by citizens and its maintenance.