I wanted to share with you a Python script I’ve created to automatize the download of images and metadata from iNaturalist observations. Whether you’re a nature lover, researcher, data scientist, etc., this script can make your life easier.
Features :
Download images and metadata for several species in a single execution.
Choose the number of observations per species to download.
Filter by quality-grade and license.
Select image size.
…
Information about installation and usage can be found on the GitHub repository
Feel free to give it a try and provide feedback or suggestions. If you have questions or need assistance using the script, don’t hesitate to ask here or open an issue on GitHub !
@cypamigon - Could you create a version of this script for downloading the images and metadata for a list of observations, rather than a list of species?
Yes, metadata are observation data. For now, the data downloaded are : species_name, observation_id, observation_license, observer_login, observation_quality, observation_date, observation_latitude and observation_longitude.
Indeed, if you just want the data, the CSV export tool might be more suitable.
For images downloading, using the script is a simpler way of downloading observations photos than using the AWS dataset. However, if you really need a lot of photos, I would suggest giving a try to the AWS dataset that was primarily designed for this.