Citizen Science in Space and Atmospheric Sciences: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract Citizen science (also referred to as participatory science or community science), in which members of the general public contribute to scientific research, is not a new concept, as early examples of such studies can be found a couple of centuries ago. With the advancement of technology in an increasingly connected world, it has never been easier to engage citizen scientists in research projects. In this paper, we review citizen science initiatives and projects in the fields of atmosphere and space physics, including both early observation campaigns prior to the twenty-first century and recent projects. Ongoing initiatives take a broad range of forms, from the collection of data by citizen scientists to their involvement in the data analysis process and to the hosting of instruments in non-scientific public structures. We also discuss some of the challenges specific to citizen science, such as training citizen scientists, maintaining their engagement, ensuring reciprocity, managing citizen science data, interfacing the academic and citizen scientist communities, and funding citizen science. To these challenges we suggest possible solutions, and we highlight the unique opportunities offered by recent software and hardware developments. These game-changing opportunities are foreshadowing the dawn of a new era for citizen science – and hence for science in general and atmosphere and space physics in particular.

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Publication Details

Journal
Surveys in Geophysics
Published
2025-06-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-025-09888-6
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.31

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article

Citizen Science in Space and Atmospheric Sciences: Opportunities and Challenges

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2 citations
Surveys in Geophysics
Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
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article

Citizen Science in Space and Atmospheric Sciences: Opportunities and Challenges

H. Mkrtchyan, N. A. Frissell, Lucilla Alfonsi, Maxime Grandin, Sophie Musset, Burcu Kosar, Bea Gallardo‐Lacourt, Lisa Evans, Yunpeng Jia, Emma Bruus, Mathieu Barthélémy, Keri Nicoll, Veronika Haberle, Daniel Whiter, K. M. Laundal, Eelco Doornbos, Katie Herlingshaw, Florine Enengl, Noora Partamies, Vincent Ledvina, Marius O. Jonassen
article en
2 citations

Abstract

Abstract Citizen science (also referred to as participatory science or community science), in which members of the general public contribute to scientific research, is not a new concept, as early examples of such studies can be found a couple of centuries ago. With the advancement of technology in an increasingly connected world, it has never been easier to engage citizen scientists in research projects. In this paper, we review citizen science initiatives and projects in the fields of atmosphere and space physics, including both early observation campaigns prior to the twenty-first century and recent projects. Ongoing initiatives take a broad range of forms, from the collection of data by citizen scientists to their involvement in the data analysis process and to the hosting of instruments in non-scientific public structures. We also discuss some of the challenges specific to citizen science, such as training citizen scientists, maintaining their engagement, ensuring reciprocity, managing citizen science data, interfacing the academic and citizen scientist communities, and funding citizen science. To these challenges we suggest possible solutions, and we highlight the unique opportunities offered by recent software and hardware developments. These game-changing opportunities are foreshadowing the dawn of a new era for citizen science – and hence for science in general and atmosphere and space physics in particular.

Surveys in Geophysics
University of Scranton (US), Finnish Meteorological Institute (FI), Goddard Space Flight Center (US), Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (NL), University of Alaska Fairbanks (US), University of America (US), University of Oslo (NO), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NO), European Space Agency (FR), Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (US), Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (IT), Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Physique (FR), Ursa Astronomical Association (FI), University of Southampton (GB), GeoSphere Austria, University of Bergen (NO), European Space Research and Technology Centre (NL), University Centre in Svalbard (SJ), University of Reading (GB), University of Otago (NZ), Université Grenoble Alpes (FR), University of Oulu (FI)
National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, UK Research and Innovation, Academy of Finland, Natural Environment Research Council, European Research Council
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
2.31
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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