Satellite Shows High Productivity from U.S. Corn Belt
I have talked about this kind of thing before. Using remote sensing and GIS to create a base line and then frequent revisits is a great way to do...anything. Having a well documented regional understanding of agricultural activities will help increase productivity and also increase sustainability. Knowing movement patterns of pests will let farmers employ non-chemical pest prevention. Knowing soil conditions will allow farmers to make adjustments to field use and allow long term rejuvenation of the area.
Map of Open Service Requests for Potholes
Public work web map applications are always pretty cool. I keep saying that citizens will completely volunteer to do all of the ground truthing for a project. You just have to make it seem like it is their idea. Set up an easy interface to document the resources and the crowd sourcing will come together.
I think it is also important to be involved in your community. Even if you are only taking pictures of potholes. Global population has grown so much that I think we are starting to lose touch with the local community. Being involved also lets you keep an eye on what is going on in your local government. Everybody likes to complain about not enough services and too much tax, but when it comes to actually working with the government and even volunteering data collection people like to clam up and pretend that they have no stake in it.