Thermal Drone Technology Used to Capture Thermoregulation in Wild Sumatran Elephants
Drone technology plays a critical role in supporting conservation efforts for endangered species, not only in terms of species monitoring within various landscapes, but also potentially when applied to behavioral studies to investigate interaction patterns and response to environmental change. We t...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Bogor Agricultural University
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Hayati Journal of Biosciences |
| Online Access: | https://journal.ipb.ac.id/index.php/hayati/article/view/46850 |
| _version_ | 1797689966050934784 |
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| author | Raden Danang Wijayanto Aryo Adhi Condro Dede Aulia Rahman |
| author_facet | Raden Danang Wijayanto Aryo Adhi Condro Dede Aulia Rahman |
| author_sort | Raden Danang Wijayanto |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Drone technology plays a critical role in supporting conservation efforts for endangered species, not only in terms of species monitoring within various landscapes, but also potentially when applied to behavioral studies to investigate interaction patterns and response to environmental change. We tested a thermal drone to investigate thermoregulation and surface temperature of wild Sumatran elephants in the lowland tropical forest of Jambi, Indonesia. Thermoregulation data was obtained using RGB images and videos, while temperature values were measured from thermal images (R-JPEG) extracted into TIFF equipped with pixel temperature. We detected a visual thermoregulation mechanism known as mud bathing. Our study demonstrated that the trunk functions to draw mud and throw it onto the head, back, and stomach, the tail functions to distribute the mud to all parts of the back of the body, while the ears flapped to keep head temperature cool. Our measurements showed that the surface temperature of Sumatran elephants is between 28.9-30.3°C. The head had a relatively lower temperature than other body parts. This study also revealed that the environmental humidity variable significantly affects the elephant's temperature rise. The use of drone technology for future behavioral studies is recommended as it accurately provides high quality data and can be widely used in any type of terrain.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:53:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f69e910be5664d2eb736595eff014215 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1978-3019 2086-4094 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:53:49Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | Bogor Agricultural University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Hayati Journal of Biosciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-f69e910be5664d2eb736595eff0142152023-09-08T08:39:40ZengBogor Agricultural UniversityHayati Journal of Biosciences1978-30192086-40942023-08-0130610.4308/hjb.30.6.1061-1070Thermal Drone Technology Used to Capture Thermoregulation in Wild Sumatran ElephantsRaden Danang Wijayanto0Aryo Adhi Condro1Dede Aulia Rahman2Tropical Biodiversity Conservation Program, Department of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecotourism, Faculty of Forestry and Environment, IPB University, Bogor 16680, IndonesiaRainforest Alliance, Denpasar City, Bali 80227, IndonesiaDepartment of Forest Resources Conservation and Ecotourism, Faculty of Forestry and Environment, IPB University, Bogor 16680, Indonesia. Primate Research Center, IPB University, Bogor 16680, Indonesia Drone technology plays a critical role in supporting conservation efforts for endangered species, not only in terms of species monitoring within various landscapes, but also potentially when applied to behavioral studies to investigate interaction patterns and response to environmental change. We tested a thermal drone to investigate thermoregulation and surface temperature of wild Sumatran elephants in the lowland tropical forest of Jambi, Indonesia. Thermoregulation data was obtained using RGB images and videos, while temperature values were measured from thermal images (R-JPEG) extracted into TIFF equipped with pixel temperature. We detected a visual thermoregulation mechanism known as mud bathing. Our study demonstrated that the trunk functions to draw mud and throw it onto the head, back, and stomach, the tail functions to distribute the mud to all parts of the back of the body, while the ears flapped to keep head temperature cool. Our measurements showed that the surface temperature of Sumatran elephants is between 28.9-30.3°C. The head had a relatively lower temperature than other body parts. This study also revealed that the environmental humidity variable significantly affects the elephant's temperature rise. The use of drone technology for future behavioral studies is recommended as it accurately provides high quality data and can be widely used in any type of terrain. https://journal.ipb.ac.id/index.php/hayati/article/view/46850 |
| spellingShingle | Raden Danang Wijayanto Aryo Adhi Condro Dede Aulia Rahman Thermal Drone Technology Used to Capture Thermoregulation in Wild Sumatran Elephants Hayati Journal of Biosciences |
| title | Thermal Drone Technology Used to Capture Thermoregulation in Wild Sumatran Elephants |
| title_full | Thermal Drone Technology Used to Capture Thermoregulation in Wild Sumatran Elephants |
| title_fullStr | Thermal Drone Technology Used to Capture Thermoregulation in Wild Sumatran Elephants |
| title_full_unstemmed | Thermal Drone Technology Used to Capture Thermoregulation in Wild Sumatran Elephants |
| title_short | Thermal Drone Technology Used to Capture Thermoregulation in Wild Sumatran Elephants |
| title_sort | thermal drone technology used to capture thermoregulation in wild sumatran elephants |
| url | https://journal.ipb.ac.id/index.php/hayati/article/view/46850 |
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