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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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2504-446X/3/2/39/ 2023-08-20T04:02:34+02:00 Using Fixed-Wing UAV for Detecting and Mapping the Distribution and Abundance of Penguins on the South Shetlands Islands, Antarctica Christian Pfeifer Andres Barbosa Osama Mustafa Hans-Ulrich Peter Marie-Charlott Rümmler Alexander Brenning 2019-04-19 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/drones3020039 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones3020039 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Drones; Volume 3; Issue 2; Pages: 39 Antarctica birds BVLOS penguin drone fixed-wing UAV monitoring population change Pygoscelis antarcticus South Shetland Islands Text 2019 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/drones3020039 2023-07-31T22:12:38Z 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. Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica antarcticus Chinstrap penguin King George Island Nelson Island South Shetland Islands MDPI Open Access Publishing Antarctic Austral King George Island Nelson Island ENVELOPE(-59.050,-59.050,-62.300,-62.300) South Shetland Islands The Antarctic Drones 3 2 39 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
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ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
Antarctica birds BVLOS penguin drone fixed-wing UAV monitoring population change Pygoscelis antarcticus South Shetland Islands |
spellingShingle |
Antarctica birds BVLOS penguin drone fixed-wing UAV monitoring population change Pygoscelis antarcticus South Shetland Islands Christian Pfeifer Andres Barbosa Osama Mustafa Hans-Ulrich Peter Marie-Charlott Rümmler Alexander Brenning Using Fixed-Wing UAV for Detecting and Mapping the Distribution and Abundance of Penguins on the South Shetlands Islands, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Antarctica birds BVLOS penguin drone fixed-wing UAV monitoring population change Pygoscelis antarcticus South Shetland Islands |
description |
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. |
format |
Text |
author |
Christian Pfeifer Andres Barbosa Osama Mustafa Hans-Ulrich Peter Marie-Charlott Rümmler Alexander Brenning |
author_facet |
Christian Pfeifer Andres Barbosa Osama Mustafa Hans-Ulrich Peter Marie-Charlott Rümmler Alexander Brenning |
author_sort |
Christian Pfeifer |
title |
Using Fixed-Wing UAV for Detecting and Mapping the Distribution and Abundance of Penguins on the South Shetlands Islands, Antarctica |
title_short |
Using Fixed-Wing UAV for Detecting and Mapping the Distribution and Abundance of Penguins on the South Shetlands Islands, Antarctica |
title_full |
Using Fixed-Wing UAV for Detecting and Mapping the Distribution and Abundance of Penguins on the South Shetlands Islands, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Using Fixed-Wing UAV for Detecting and Mapping the Distribution and Abundance of Penguins on the South Shetlands Islands, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Using Fixed-Wing UAV for Detecting and Mapping the Distribution and Abundance of Penguins on the South Shetlands Islands, Antarctica |
title_sort |
using fixed-wing uav for detecting and mapping the distribution and abundance of penguins on the south shetlands islands, antarctica |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/drones3020039 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-59.050,-59.050,-62.300,-62.300) |
geographic |
Antarctic Austral King George Island Nelson Island South Shetland Islands The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Austral King George Island Nelson Island South Shetland Islands The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica antarcticus Chinstrap penguin King George Island Nelson Island South Shetland Islands |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica antarcticus Chinstrap penguin King George Island Nelson Island South Shetland Islands |
op_source |
Drones; Volume 3; Issue 2; Pages: 39 |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones3020039 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/drones3020039 |
container_title |
Drones |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
39 |
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1774713079146217472 |