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Drones / Feed

Used to pick up signals from tracking gear on the ground, collect images of wildlife and habitats from the air, gather acoustic data with specialized hydrophones, or even collect snot samples from whales' blowholes, drones are capable of collecting high-resolution data quickly, noninvasively, and at relatively low cost.

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WILDLABS Virtual Meetup Recording: Drones

WILDLABS Team
The second event in Season Three of the WILDLABS Virtual Meetup Series is now available to watch, along with notes that highlight key takeaways from the talks and discussion. In the meetup, Craig Elder, Dr. Claire Burke...

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How do you weigh a live whale?

Fredrik Christiansen
How do we actually know a whale weighs 40 tonnes? After all, we can’t exactly capture an animal the size of a bus and simply put it on a scale. Fredrik Christiansen explains their new, non-invasive way of weighing...

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[ARCHIVE] Promises and Pitfalls of Conservation Drones webinar (June 6)

Just flagging this upcoming webinar with Dr Lian pin Koh, author of the Conservation Drones book. Register here. This is part of the Conservation Biology Institute and...

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Is the webinar recorded and uploaded somewhere?

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Workshop: Drones in the Coastal Zone

SECOORA
A workshop to advance unoccupied aircraft systems in coastal ecosystem and fisheries management in the US Southeast and Caribbean. Beauford, North Carolina, March 31- April 2, 2020. 

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From the Field: Melissa Schiele

In this From the Field interview, we talk to Melissa Schiele, a tech whiz, marine ecologist, and conservationist at the Zoological Society of London. She shares with us about her work helping to develop the first-ever...

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Circular Polarising Filters for the Mavic 2 Pro

We're going to be conducting some marine mammal population surveys and would like to use polarising filters on our Mavic 2 Pro's camera to eliminate reflection. Does...

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I like the stuff Polar Pro puts out. I think they are some of the best you can get and it is what I use. 

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Drone flight in Indonesia

Hi all, I am looking for any information on obtaining a drone permit to fly a drone in Indonesia. The drone is a HeavyLift 178 Wingcopter drone,with sensors: Fagerman...

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Hi Sophie,

The best thing would be to get in contact with the Department of Civil Aviation in the Indonesian state you're working in. You're right that you can fly without a permit for at low altitude in most places, but there may be diferent restrictions if the drone is used for research purposes so its worth checking. I received a license for drone work in Sabah (Malaysian Borneo) and they mainly wanted to know the drone specs, activities, flight coordinates, dates and if possible, times. The only restriction they gave us was to fly below 300 m,

There is usually a lot of back and forth between departments about who is ultimately responsible but they should be able to get it processed,  as there are groups in Kalimantan using drones pretty regularly. Please let me know if you have any issues or need any other info.

Best wishes,

Sol

Thanks so much Sol! How long did it take you to get permission to fly? And were there any costs associated with getting the permit? 

Hi Sophie,

Sorry- I only just saw your reply!

It took about 3 months to get it through the department of civil aviation, but this doesn't mean much, because the Indonesian system may be pretty different. It cost 250RM (£50) for each drone. 

Cheers,

Sol

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Canopy height mapping with drones

Tom Swinfield
Tom Swinfield and colleagues at the Forest Ecology and Conservation Group have assessed the quality of three dimensional forest models produced from drone surveys, and conclude that concerns about their quality for...

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Technology for Wildlife and the Looming Spectre of E-Waste

Laure Joanny
In this blog, Laure Joanny adds her perspectives to an ongoing discussion that we've been seeing in the community about conservation tech and it's relationship to e-waste. How do we tackle the challenge of battery waste...

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WILDLABS Virtual Meetup: Low Cost, Open-Source Solutions

WILDLABS Team
The first event in Season Two of the WILDLABS Virtual Meetup Series was on Low-Cost, Open-Source Solutions. The recording is now available to watch, along with notes and recommended reading based on the discussion. In...

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Getting up close and personal with Antarctica's orcas

Jamie Morton
In this case study, Science Reporter Jamie Morton tells the story of how Kiwi scientists are teaming up with a local underwater robotics company to gain world-first insights into the lives of whales in Antarctica.

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Infrared filters for drone cameras

I'm interested to know how people are going about acquiring infrared imagery from drones (e.g. to calculate NDVI). There are dedicated cameras out there, and also camera...

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Although not for NDVI but worth a mention for anyone looking at converting a camera into IR only. 

I have had sucess using a DIY filter made out of blank processed camera film from a disposable camera. So long as you can still find somewhere to process the film (or do it yourself) you just cut the processed film (negatives) and replace the digital cameras IR filter (placed over the cameras sensor). This will simply turn the camera into an IR camera only so won't fit your requirement for NDVI but thought that it is worth posting if others are looking at converting a camera or Go-Pro into an IR camera. 

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Drones, Orangutans, and Strangler Figs in Malaysian Borneo

Sol Milne
In this case study, WILDLABS member Sol Milne takes us through his Ph.D. work investigating how changing land-use is affecting orangutan distribution in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. With the help of five local research...

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Multispectral Cameras

We are starting a new drones project at the RSPB to looks at multispectral cameras.  I would love to hear about any experience people have with using these sensors with...

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Drone Applications in Water Quality Research?

Hi everyone! I am curious if anyone has come across water quality research using drones in wetted habitat, coastal ecosystems, rivers, lakes, or other riparian environments? I...

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Hi Ned,

Thank you so much for your response!

I absolutely agree- going out and testing flights over water at different angles and times of the day would be best. I'll look into a polarizing filter. I have spoken with some colleagues who recommend flying between noon and 3pm, and also that a cloudy day with diffused light can actually be quite helpful to avoid glint. I will look into the oil spill mapping - sounds very interesting. I've also heard that drones are sometimes restricted from oil spill regions due to risks of battery-caused fires (if the drones fall into the water). 

Ved! Fantastic idea. I used to work with him down at Ames, so I will certainly reach out. Thank you for the reminder!

Cheers,

Chippie

Hi CHippie - I am wondering how your thoughts are progressing on this topic? Please let us know an update.

Thanks

Michael

 

Hi Michael! 

Thanks so much for following up. I have yet to really get my feet wet with drones & algal blooms (my water quality issue of interest at the moment), but what I gathered from my literature review is that hyperspectral cameras are a much more precise option than multispectral cameras for algal identification. I'm hoping to try out a red-edge camera to see if there is anything spectrally interesting, as I do not currently have access to a hyperspectral camera. For the time being, I am hoping to play with a MicaSense camera over wet habitat and see if anything can be observed. I'll keep you posted if I find anything of interest! 

Thanks,

Chippie

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Tethered UAVs

Does anyone have an experince using a tethered drone or bimp? I want to collect aerial images of beluga whales that are being sampled (acoustics and snot) to determine numbers and...

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Thanks - I did look into blimps but the helium problem is a big one for remote work. I do have a couple UAVs but the area I work is tricky (airport, waterdrome, and helicopter landing with occasional ships that carry helicopters). my hope was for a tethered solution that could run for longer than the 20min battery life of a drone. thanks for the info.

 

thanks I adnt thought of kites  - I will have to test one in the field this year. I imagined one of the advantages of a tethered UAV is that I can parasitize all the camera elements (gimble stabilization, pan/tilt/zoom, and real time viewing of the imagery). Maybe I could just secure a cheap UAV under a kite... I wonder how I choose the correct kite size.

hi Stephen, 

 

Kites have gimbals too (ranging from simple strings to metal rigs) and you can connect to a camera much like a drone. In my case I have a gimbal hanging on a string, and to connect to my camera I get live connection and can change settings with the GoPro app! this website has lots of info - size of the kite depends on payload (some people fly SLRs!) and wind.  

Www.kapshop.com

 

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Eddy Expedition Log: Chasing Eddies

Elisha Wood-Charlson
This month, we're following along with the scientists and engineers from the Simons Collaboration on Ocean Processes and Ecology (SCOPE) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) who working together to...

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Eddy Expedition Log: Setting Off to Explore Eddies

Elisha Wood-Charlson
If you have ever flown over the Pacific and looked down from the window seat, the water seems still. Viewed from this distance, the water appears stagnant with unmoving dashes of waves. This picture strikes discordantly...

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#Tech4Wildlife Photo Challenge 2018: Our Top 10

WILDLABS Team
Hundreds of people joined our #Tech4Wildlife photo challenge this year, showcasing all the incredible ways tech is being used to support wildlife conservation. We've seen proximity loggers on Tasmanian Devils in...

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