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Leveraging social media to map America’s recreational areas
Citation:
VanBerkel, D., K. Tieskens, J. Smith, A. Neale, AND M. Mehaffey. Leveraging social media to map America’s recreational areas. 2019 National Outdoor Recreation Conference, Rapid City, SD, May 06 - 09, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
The conference will include academics and practitionaires who will benefit by becoming more familiar with novel “big data” sources of information and analytical techniques for understanding recreational areas; 2) gaining a fuller understanding of locations that are valued for outdoor recreation across the United States; and 3) understanding the spatial characteristic associated with these recreational areas through this presentation.
Description:
While the United States is home to many recreational and scenic areas that deliver numerous cultural ecosystem services (CES), a national, spatially-explicit assessment of these special places does not exist. Identifying and characterizing locations that are appreciated for their beauty and provide opportunities for outdoor activities can improve our understanding of the unique qualities that make these locations attractive for recreationalists. In this presentation, we describe a new initiative by the EPA for mapping recreational areas across the US using social media. Approximately 6 million photographs depicting scenic landscapes and outdoor activities were used to identify locations of high public value for recreation. We classified photographic content from Flikr and Panoramio using TensorFlow, a machine learning algorithm that allows for rapidly distinguishing image features. We investigated the spatial characteristics associated with these sites using the viewsheds of the filtered locations. The high resolution national maps will be made available through the EnviroAtlas. By providing locations across the conterminous United States that are valued by recreationalist, our aim is to help local and national stakeholders weigh conservation priorities and evaluate developments and landscape qualities that enhance or conflict with these important benefits. Learning objectives: After attending this workshop, participants will, 1) become more familiar with novel “big data” sources of information and analytical techniques for understanding recreational areas; 2) have a fuller understanding of locations that are valued for outdoor recreation across the United States; and 3) understand the spatial characteristic associated with these recreational areas.
