Accuracy of an observation

When uploading an observation, you will note there is a field asking for accuracy of your sighting. In other words, how accurate/sure are you that you placed your pin location in the correct spot.

iNaturalist will not index an observation as being in an area if either the observation's accuracy circle or obscuration rectangle breaks that bounding box. Thus, if you want the observation to fall inside the project area and be counted make sure that none of the bounding box falls outside the project area.

This is done to prevent observations from being added to a place when there is a chance they were not found there and, more importantly, to prevent users from narrowing down the location of an obscured observation.
This means that if you have a Collection project for a small place, obscured observations as well as observations made near the edge of the boundary may not be displayed in your project.

If you know your location is spot on, then you can take it right down to 1 meter accuracy. Otherwise, a general rule for all your observations could be 20 meters, or no more than 100 meters. This will ensure that, unless you are working slap on the perimeter line of the project, your observation will still fall within the project and be counted.

Do not always rely on your camera or phone to add the accuracy. Always double check this.

The Garden Route City Nature Challenge project IS a collection project. Therefore, make sure the accuracy of your observation does not break the boundary and therefore not get counted.
https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/help#placeindex

Posted on April 26, 2021 11:00 AM by shauns