About MossMap
MossMap turns everyday phones into citizen-science tools for monitoring local ecosystem and air quality through mosses and lichens — nature’s own sensors.
Why mosses & lichens?
Mosses and lichens are powerful bioindicators. They lack true roots and absorb water and nutrients directly from the air and rain. Changes in color, density, and species composition reveal moisture stress, nitrogen deposition, heavy metals, and overall canopy health.
In Oregon and the Pacific Northwest — home to hundreds of moss and lichen species — these organisms are especially informative for urban air quality, forest resilience, and climate-driven drying.
How the stress score works
Our vision model examines visual cues (color, texture, damage patterns, growth form) and combines them with simple environmental context. It estimates:
- Moisture stress
- Pollution / nitrogen indicators
- Canopy openness
These are combined into a 0–100 stress score, inverted to a “Nature Health” score for the map. The score is an educational estimate, not a lab measurement — perfect for awareness and for spotting patterns over time.
Built for
- • Hikers and outdoor enthusiasts in Oregon & the PNW
- • Students and educators teaching ecology & climate
- • Park rangers and land managers needing rapid local signals
- • Anyone curious about the living sensors around them
Privacy & data
Observations are anonymous by default. An optional nickname is the only personal identifier. Images can be stored for the community map; location is used only to place the pin. No accounts or passwords required for the MVP.
OregonHacks 2026
MossMap was built for the Nature + Tech theme: a polished, mobile-first MVP that demonstrates real AI vision, live mapping, and citizen-science contribution in under five minutes of demo time.