Evaluating quality of data collected by volunteers for first level inspection of hydraulic structures in mountain catchments
Abstract. Volunteers have been trained to perform first level inspections of hydraulic structures within campaigns promoted by Civil Protection of Friuli Venezia Giulia (Italy). Two inspection forms and a learning session were prepared to standardize data collection on the functional status of bridges and check dams. Six structures were inspected by technicians and volunteers. Some participants carried out the inspection without attending the learning session. Thus, we used the mode of technicians in the learning group to distinguish different accuracy levels between volunteers and technicians. Quality of collected data was assessed by their accuracy, precision and completeness. We assigned ordinal scores to the ratings scales in the form for getting indication of the structure status. We also considered performance and feedback of participants to identify corrective actions in survey procedures. Results showed that volunteers could carry out inspections with comparable performance to technicians but with a given range in precision. However, indication of completeness per parameter (ratio Question/Parameter) is still needed for the later examination of inspections, anytime volunteers use unspecified options. Then, volunteers' ratings could be considered as preliminary assessment without replacing other procedures. Future research should consider advantages of mobile applications for the quality of data collected with volunteers.