Using Fixed-Wing UAV for Detecting and Mapping the Distribution and Abundance of Penguins on the South Shetlands Islands, Antarctica

Antarctic marine ecosystems undergo enormous changes, presumably due to climate change and fishery. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have an unprecedented potential for measuring these changes by mapping indicator species such as penguins even in remote areas. We used a battery-powered fixed-wing UAV...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Drones
Main Authors: Christian Pfeifer, Andres Barbosa, Osama Mustafa, Hans-Ulrich Peter, Marie-Charlott Rümmler, Alexander Brenning
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019
Subjects:
Antarctica
birds
BVLOS
penguin
drone
fixed-wing UAV
monitoring
population change
Pygoscelis antarcticus
South Shetland Islands
Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics
TL1-4050
Antarctic
The Antarctic
Austral
King George Island
Nelson Island
Antarc*
antarcticus
Chinstrap penguin
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/drones3020039
https://doaj.org/article/c70915d4c3e54cf68f4be758eecf02f6
Description
Summary:Antarctic marine ecosystems undergo enormous changes, presumably due to climate change and fishery. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have an unprecedented potential for measuring these changes by mapping indicator species such as penguins even in remote areas. We used a battery-powered fixed-wing UAV to survey colonies along a 30-km stretch of the remote coast of southwest King George Island and northwest Nelson Island (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) during the austral summer 2016/17. With multiple flights, we covered a total distance of 317 km. We determined the exact position of 14 chinstrap penguin colonies, including two small unknown colonies, with a total abundance of 35,604 adults. To model the number of occupied nests based on the number of adults counted in the UAV imagery we used data derived from terrestrial time-lapse imagery. The comparison with previous studies revealed a decline in the total abundance of occupied nests. However, we also found four chinstrap penguin colonies that have grown since the 1980s against the general trend on the South Shetland Islands. The results proved the suitability of the use of small and lightweight fixed-wing UAVs with electric engines for mapping penguin colonies in remote areas in the Antarctic.

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