Proper flight technique for using a small rotary-winged drone aircraft to safely, quickly, and accurately survey raptor nests
Small rotary-winged unmanned aerial vehicles or “drones” mounted with a small video camera were successful in surveying the nest contents of four species of raptor, including Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis), and Red-tailed Hawk (B....
Published in: | Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems |
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Canadian Science Publishing
2015
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/juvs-2015-0003 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/juvs-2015-0003 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/juvs-2015-0003 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/juvs-2015-0003 2024-06-23T07:57:32+00:00 Proper flight technique for using a small rotary-winged drone aircraft to safely, quickly, and accurately survey raptor nests Junda, James Greene, Erick Bird, David M. 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/juvs-2015-0003 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/juvs-2015-0003 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/juvs-2015-0003 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems volume 3, issue 4, page 222-236 ISSN 2291-3467 journal-article 2015 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/juvs-2015-0003 2024-06-13T04:10:51Z Small rotary-winged unmanned aerial vehicles or “drones” mounted with a small video camera were successful in surveying the nest contents of four species of raptor, including Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis), and Red-tailed Hawk (B. jamaicensis) in an accurate and safe manner when the proper flight technique was employed. A total of 110 surveys were completed in 2013 and 2014 with quality images of nest contents obtained in 106 or (96.4%) of flights. A successful and safe flight requires two personnel: the pilot who controls the aircraft and the spotter who monitors the behaviour of the adult birds defending the nest and keeps the pilot updated on all potentially dangerous interactions between aircraft and the birds. With the video camera recording, the aircraft is flown above the nest to a predetermined location that allows an unobscured camera shot of the nest. This technique can be readily adapted to a variety of habitat types and species. The accuracy of data obtained combined with the flexibility, low cost, and speed of this technique make it a useful technological alternative to the safety risks and obtrusiveness associated with traditional survey techniques. Article in Journal/Newspaper osprey Pandion haliaetus Canadian Science Publishing Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems 3 4 222 236 |
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Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Small rotary-winged unmanned aerial vehicles or “drones” mounted with a small video camera were successful in surveying the nest contents of four species of raptor, including Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis), and Red-tailed Hawk (B. jamaicensis) in an accurate and safe manner when the proper flight technique was employed. A total of 110 surveys were completed in 2013 and 2014 with quality images of nest contents obtained in 106 or (96.4%) of flights. A successful and safe flight requires two personnel: the pilot who controls the aircraft and the spotter who monitors the behaviour of the adult birds defending the nest and keeps the pilot updated on all potentially dangerous interactions between aircraft and the birds. With the video camera recording, the aircraft is flown above the nest to a predetermined location that allows an unobscured camera shot of the nest. This technique can be readily adapted to a variety of habitat types and species. The accuracy of data obtained combined with the flexibility, low cost, and speed of this technique make it a useful technological alternative to the safety risks and obtrusiveness associated with traditional survey techniques. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Junda, James Greene, Erick Bird, David M. |
spellingShingle |
Junda, James Greene, Erick Bird, David M. Proper flight technique for using a small rotary-winged drone aircraft to safely, quickly, and accurately survey raptor nests |
author_facet |
Junda, James Greene, Erick Bird, David M. |
author_sort |
Junda, James |
title |
Proper flight technique for using a small rotary-winged drone aircraft to safely, quickly, and accurately survey raptor nests |
title_short |
Proper flight technique for using a small rotary-winged drone aircraft to safely, quickly, and accurately survey raptor nests |
title_full |
Proper flight technique for using a small rotary-winged drone aircraft to safely, quickly, and accurately survey raptor nests |
title_fullStr |
Proper flight technique for using a small rotary-winged drone aircraft to safely, quickly, and accurately survey raptor nests |
title_full_unstemmed |
Proper flight technique for using a small rotary-winged drone aircraft to safely, quickly, and accurately survey raptor nests |
title_sort |
proper flight technique for using a small rotary-winged drone aircraft to safely, quickly, and accurately survey raptor nests |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/juvs-2015-0003 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/juvs-2015-0003 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/juvs-2015-0003 |
genre |
osprey Pandion haliaetus |
genre_facet |
osprey Pandion haliaetus |
op_source |
Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems volume 3, issue 4, page 222-236 ISSN 2291-3467 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/juvs-2015-0003 |
container_title |
Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
222 |
op_container_end_page |
236 |
_version_ |
1802651217769267200 |