Evaluating the Use of a Thermal Sensor to Detect Small Ground-Nesting Birds in Semi-Arid Environments during Winter
Aerial wildlife surveys with fixed-wing airplanes and helicopters are used more often than on-the-ground field surveys to cover areas that are both extensive and often inaccessible. Drones with high-resolution thermal sensors are being widely accepted as research tools to aid in monitoring wildlife...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Drones |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/8/2/64 |
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| author | J. Silverio Avila-Sanchez Humberto L. Perotto-Baldivieso Lori D. Massey J. Alfonso Ortega-S. Leonard A. Brennan Fidel Hernández |
| author_facet | J. Silverio Avila-Sanchez Humberto L. Perotto-Baldivieso Lori D. Massey J. Alfonso Ortega-S. Leonard A. Brennan Fidel Hernández |
| author_sort | J. Silverio Avila-Sanchez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Aerial wildlife surveys with fixed-wing airplanes and helicopters are used more often than on-the-ground field surveys to cover areas that are both extensive and often inaccessible. Drones with high-resolution thermal sensors are being widely accepted as research tools to aid in monitoring wildlife species and their habitats. Therefore, our goal was to assess the feasibility of detecting northern bobwhite quail (<i>Colinus virginianus</i>, hereafter ‘bobwhite’) using drones with a high-resolution thermal sensor. Our objectives were (1) to identify the altitudes at which bobwhites can be detected and (2) compare the two most used color palettes to detect species (black-hot and isotherm). We achieved this goal by performing drone flights at different altitudes over caged tame bobwhites and capturing still images and video recordings at altitudes from 18 to 42 m. We did not observe or detect any obvious signs of distress, movement, or fluttering of bobwhites inside cages caused by the noise or presence of the drone during data acquisition. We observed the highest counts of individual bobwhites with the black-hot thermal palette at 18 m (92%; <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mover accent="true"><mi mathvariant="normal">x</mi><mo stretchy="true">¯</mo></mover></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> = 47 bobwhites; SE = 0.41) and at 24 m (81%; <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mover accent="true"><mi mathvariant="normal">x</mi><mo stretchy="true">¯</mo></mover></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> = 41 bobwhites; SE = 0.89). The isotherm thermal palette had lower count proportions. The use of video to count quail was not feasible due to the low resolution of the video and the species size. Flying drones with high-resolution thermal sensors provided reliable imagery to detect roosting bobwhite individuals in South Texas during the winter. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:36:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e060438eafff41caafa577df7363d7c4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2504-446X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:36:02Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Drones |
| spelling | doaj.art-e060438eafff41caafa577df7363d7c42024-02-23T15:14:14ZengMDPI AGDrones2504-446X2024-02-01826410.3390/drones8020064Evaluating the Use of a Thermal Sensor to Detect Small Ground-Nesting Birds in Semi-Arid Environments during WinterJ. Silverio Avila-Sanchez0Humberto L. Perotto-Baldivieso1Lori D. Massey2J. Alfonso Ortega-S.3Leonard A. Brennan4Fidel Hernández5Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX 78363, USACaesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX 78363, USACaesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX 78363, USACaesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX 78363, USACaesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX 78363, USACaesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX 78363, USAAerial wildlife surveys with fixed-wing airplanes and helicopters are used more often than on-the-ground field surveys to cover areas that are both extensive and often inaccessible. Drones with high-resolution thermal sensors are being widely accepted as research tools to aid in monitoring wildlife species and their habitats. Therefore, our goal was to assess the feasibility of detecting northern bobwhite quail (<i>Colinus virginianus</i>, hereafter ‘bobwhite’) using drones with a high-resolution thermal sensor. Our objectives were (1) to identify the altitudes at which bobwhites can be detected and (2) compare the two most used color palettes to detect species (black-hot and isotherm). We achieved this goal by performing drone flights at different altitudes over caged tame bobwhites and capturing still images and video recordings at altitudes from 18 to 42 m. We did not observe or detect any obvious signs of distress, movement, or fluttering of bobwhites inside cages caused by the noise or presence of the drone during data acquisition. We observed the highest counts of individual bobwhites with the black-hot thermal palette at 18 m (92%; <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mover accent="true"><mi mathvariant="normal">x</mi><mo stretchy="true">¯</mo></mover></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> = 47 bobwhites; SE = 0.41) and at 24 m (81%; <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mover accent="true"><mi mathvariant="normal">x</mi><mo stretchy="true">¯</mo></mover></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> = 41 bobwhites; SE = 0.89). The isotherm thermal palette had lower count proportions. The use of video to count quail was not feasible due to the low resolution of the video and the species size. Flying drones with high-resolution thermal sensors provided reliable imagery to detect roosting bobwhite individuals in South Texas during the winter.https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/8/2/64northern bobwhitesthermal detectionwinter roostingunmanned aerial vehiclesdronesblack-hot |
| spellingShingle | J. Silverio Avila-Sanchez Humberto L. Perotto-Baldivieso Lori D. Massey J. Alfonso Ortega-S. Leonard A. Brennan Fidel Hernández Evaluating the Use of a Thermal Sensor to Detect Small Ground-Nesting Birds in Semi-Arid Environments during Winter Drones northern bobwhites thermal detection winter roosting unmanned aerial vehicles drones black-hot |
| title | Evaluating the Use of a Thermal Sensor to Detect Small Ground-Nesting Birds in Semi-Arid Environments during Winter |
| title_full | Evaluating the Use of a Thermal Sensor to Detect Small Ground-Nesting Birds in Semi-Arid Environments during Winter |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating the Use of a Thermal Sensor to Detect Small Ground-Nesting Birds in Semi-Arid Environments during Winter |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating the Use of a Thermal Sensor to Detect Small Ground-Nesting Birds in Semi-Arid Environments during Winter |
| title_short | Evaluating the Use of a Thermal Sensor to Detect Small Ground-Nesting Birds in Semi-Arid Environments during Winter |
| title_sort | evaluating the use of a thermal sensor to detect small ground nesting birds in semi arid environments during winter |
| topic | northern bobwhites thermal detection winter roosting unmanned aerial vehicles drones black-hot |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2504-446X/8/2/64 |
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