The Chirocopter: A UAV for recording sound and video of bats at altitude

Fu, Yanqing; Kinniry, Morgan; Kloepper, Laura N.

doi:10.1111/2041-210x.12992

Cited by 29 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…While many applications of drones involve the acquisition of imagery, other payloads also have been used for wildlife-related applications, including acoustic sensors (Wilson et al 2017;Fu et al 2018), biological sample collectors (Pirotta et al 2017), radio telemetry receivers (Cliff et al 2018;Desrochers et al 2018), and bait dispensers (Johnston et al 2016). Use this section to briefly describe the type(s) of data collected with the drone or the main function of the payload.…”

Section: Data Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

A standardized protocol for reporting methods when using drones for wildlife research

Barnas

Chabot

Hodgson

et al. 2020

J. Unmanned Veh. Sys.

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Drones are increasingly popular tools for wildlife research, but it is important that the use of these tools does not overshadow reporting of methodological details required for evaluation of study designs. The diversity in drone platforms, sensors, and applications necessitates the reporting of specific details for replication, but there is little guidance available on how to detail drone use in peer-reviewed articles. Here, we present a standardized protocol to assist researchers in reporting of their drone use in wildlife research. The protocol is delivered in six sections: Project Overview; Drone System and Operation Details; Payload, Sensor, and Data Collection; Field Operation Details; Data Post-Processing; and Permits, Regulations, Training, and Logistics. Each section outlines the details that should be included, along with justifications for their inclusion. To facilitate ease of use, we have provided two example protocols, retroactively produced for published drone-based studies by the authors of this protocol. Our hopes are that the current version of this protocol should assist with the communication, dissemination, and adoption of drone technology for wildlife research and management. Published at www.nrcresearchpress.com/juvs on 1 February 2020. J. Unmanned Veh. Sys. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by 44.224.250.200 on 07/09/20For personal use only. que les justifications de leur inclusion. Afin de faciliter l'utilisation de protocole, nous avons fourni deux exemples de protocoles produits rétroactivement par les auteurs de ce protocole pour des études publiées sur les drones. Nous espérons que la version actuelle de ce protocole contribuera à la communication, à la diffusion et à l'adoption de la technologie des drones pour la recherche et la gestion de la faune. [Traduit par la Rédaction] Mots-clés : drones, systèmes d'aéronefs sans pilote, véhicules d'aéronefs sans pilote, communication scientifique, télédétection, examen par les pairs. 92 J. Unmanned Veh. Syst. Vol. 8, 2020 Published by NRC Research Press J. Unmanned Veh. Sys. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by 44.224.250.200 on 07/09/20For personal use only.

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Section: Data Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

A standardized protocol for reporting methods when using drones for wildlife research

Barnas

Chabot

Hodgson

et al. 2020

J. Unmanned Veh. Sys.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In most cases, bats are surveyed using microphones and thermal imagery. These methods were used by Fu et al (2018) to measure echolocation signals and how the Tadarida brasiliensis (Brazilian free-tailed bat) bats avoid collisions in the air. The authors used a studied, custom-modified UAV equipped with microphone and thermal imaging camera.…”

Section: Population and Behaviour Studies Of Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in environmental biology: a review

Nowak¹,

Dziób²,

Bogawski³

2019

European Journal of Ecology

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Acquiring information about the environment is a key step during each study in the field of environmental biology at different levels, from an individual species to community and biome. However, obtaining information about the environment is frequently difficult because of, for example, the phenological timing, spatial distribution of a species or limited accessibility of a particular area for the field survey. Moreover, remote sensing technology, which enables the observation of the Earth’s surface and is currently very common in environmental research, has many limitations such as insufficient spatial, spectral and temporal resolution and a high cost of data acquisition. Since the 1990s, researchers have been exploring the potential of different types of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for monitoring Earth’s surface. The present study reviews recent scientific literature dealing with the use of UAV in environmental biology. Amongst numerous papers, short communications and conference abstracts, we selected 110 original studies of how UAVs can be used in environmental biology and which organisms can be studied in this manner. Most of these studies concerned the use of UAV to measure the vegetation parameters such as crown height, volume, number of individuals (14 studies) and quantification of the spatio-temporal dynamics of vegetation changes (12 studies). UAVs were also frequently applied to count birds and mammals, especially those living in the water. Generally, the analytical part of the present study was divided into following sections: (1) detecting, assessing and predicting threats on vegetation, (2) measuring the biophysical parameters of vegetation, (3) quantifying the dynamics of changes in plants and habitats and (4) population and behaviour studies of animals. At the end, we also synthesised all the information showing, amongst others, the advances in environmental biology because of UAV application. Considering that 33% of studies found and included in this review were published in 2017 and 2018, it is expected that the number and variety of applications of UAVs in environmental biology will increase in the future.

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“…The cost is kept low by building the drones from components, using a low-cost bat detector, and using software that is free to use. The flight times of the UASs and the operational time of the boat allow for large scale surveys, going beyond what has previously been achieved (Fu et al 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Almost all applications in conservation to date have focused on the collection of imagery of various types. To our knowledge there is only a single published study using a UAS for acoustic surveys of bats (Fu et al 2018). Fu et al present a UAS capable of flights of up to 18 minutes, costing $7729, which is only sufficient for static 'point-ofinterest' surveys.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autonomous drones are a viable tool for acoustic bat surveys

August¹,

Moore²

2019

Preprint

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Acoustic surveys of bats are currently limited by the detection range of ultrasound microphones. This makes it difficult to survey bats at height, over water, or in other hard to reach locations.Drones, also known as UAVs or UASs, are becoming more affordable and feature rich, resulting in more uptake in conservation, primarily for aerial imagery. In this paper we address current limitations to acoustic bat surveys by developing three autonomous drones for surveying bats; a plane, quadcopter and boat. All three are capable of moving autonomously from one waypoint to another while carrying a bat detector to record bats and are all low cost (under US$950) with large operational ranges that make them suited to aerial transect work.Initial testing highlighted ultrasound noise generated by the drones as a major issue for recording bats from these systems. This was mitigated through iterative design of the microphone placement and the vehicles themselves. Subsequent testing in real world settings, in the presence of bats, demonstrated that bats could be recorded under autonomous navigation and that the ultrasound interference could be reduced to a negligible level.Autonomous drones offer an exciting new tool in the tool box of bat workers and researchers.They allow us to study areas previously inaccessible on foot, as well as at heights that have previously been inaccessible. We also discuss current limitations to this technology, including legal considerations, hidden costs and potential impacts on bat behaviour.

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The Chirocopter: A UAV for recording sound and video of bats at altitude

Cited by 29 publications

References 17 publications

A standardized protocol for reporting methods when using drones for wildlife research

A standardized protocol for reporting methods when using drones for wildlife research

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in environmental biology: a review

Autonomous drones are a viable tool for acoustic bat surveys

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