Two more sleeps to SA’s Great Koala Count

The smartphone app will automatically tag photos with ‘geo tags’ using the builtin GPS capability. Credit: CSIRO

CSIRO has helped develop a smartphone app that will allow people to record koala sightings.

With an estimated 8.8 million smartphone users across Australia, organisers of the Great Koala Count hope the day will produce a mass of data on the statewide distribution of this iconic species.

The app, which is available for download on both iPhone and android devices, unites smartphone and data collection technologies to provide a quick and easy way to capture, record, and share data.

Participants will be prompted to take a photo of the koala and answer a number of questions. The photo will contain a ‘geo-tag’ assigned by the phone’s GPS to record the location at which the data were collected. Uploaded data can then be aggregated, shared, and analysed.

You can see CSIRO scientist, Andrew Baker, demonstrating the app here. If you live in South Australia and would like to get involved head to to the ABC’s Great Koala Count site.

The project is a joint initiative of CSIRO, the Atlas of Living Australia, the University of South Australia, ABC Local Radio, the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Natural Resource Management Board, and the South Australian Department of Environment, Water, and Natural Resources.

Source: CSIRO