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

• Published in: Drones
• Main Authors: Christian Pfeifer, Andres Barbosa, Osama Mustafa, Hans-Ulrich Peter, Marie-Charlott Rümmler, Alexander Brenning
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2019
• Subjects: Antarctica; birds; BVLOS; penguin; drone; fixed-wing UAV; monitoring; population change; Pygoscelis antarcticus; South Shetland Islands; Antarctic; Austral; King George Island; Nelson Island; The Antarctic; Antarc*; antarcticus; Chinstrap penguin
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/drones3020039

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...