Outdoor Webcams as Geospatial Sensor Networks: Challenges, Issues and Opportunities

Study of the proliferation of spatially referenced webcams and their attendant infrastructure, technology, and societal implications lies at the convergence of numerous geographical sub-disciplines. These now ubiquitous devices, accessible via the Internet, have new geographical and cartographic uses that are only now being discovered. In this paper, we discuss the issues, challenges, and opportunities surrounding monitoring with spatially referenced outdoor webcams, including digital repeat photography, lateral surveillance, webcam visualization, and analysis. A common theme throughout is spatial and temporal coverage and the power of imagery archives. Comprehensive image databases and flexible interfaces are highly desirable for environmental analysis, public safety, and study of human movement but become contentious when recast in the context of personal surveillance, with webcams viewable by anyone with an internet connection. While there are many opportunities for new scientific and practical uses of webcams as geospatial sensors, their widespread use will require a better understanding of geoprivacy and perhaps a new philosophy toward legal regulation.

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