Using drone-borne thermal infrared cameras to monitor moose in Scandinavia

We evaluated the use of a drone equipped with a thermal infrared camera as a tool to monitor moose (Alces alces) in Scandinavia’s boreal forest. We first investigated the factors affecting moose detection probability, and then estimated local moose population density, comparing these results with pellet count estimates. We conducted 33 drone flights over GPS-collared moose to assess detectability under varying conditions, followed by 34 grid flights to estimate local moose density.

本研究评估了搭载热红外相机（thermal infrared camera）的无人机（drone）作为监测工具，在斯堪的纳维亚寒温带针叶林（boreal forest）中开展驼鹿（Alces alces）监测的应用效果。研究首先探究了影响驼鹿探测概率的关键因素，随后估算了当地驼鹿种群密度，并将该估算结果与粪便计数法（pellet count）得到的估算结果进行对比。为评估不同环境条件下的驼鹿探测率，团队共实施33次针对佩戴GPS项圈的驼鹿的无人机飞行任务；后续又完成34次网格飞行任务，以进一步估算当地驼鹿种群密度。