Wildlife & Remote Sensing
Here is a short clip from the BBC, of an African wild dog pack hunting. It is incredibly difficult to track a pack of of ten or more individuals on the ground. Filming from the air allows for a new view point and greater understanding of their hunting strategies. This can lead to insight as to why they have a hunting success of almost 80% while other predators such as lion have a hunting success rate of about 20%.
African Wild
Dog Hunt
Landsat
and Sage Grouse
Landsat TM imagery was used in this 1993 study to determine if the decline in sage grouse was caused by a loss in winter habitat. This resulted in appropriately sized habitat maps that were given to Utah's habitat management. With this knowledge in hand, they are able to better pretict how local human activities will impact area sage grouse.
Invasive species, such as the tamarisk plant, are very problematic for native species. The invasie species often out comepte local varieties and is less likely to have any natural predators in its new environment. This makes it a superior competitor as is pushes out resident species. MODIS can be used to map where an invasive is growing, but the imagery can also be used to predict where is may begin to grow.
Such mapping can be used to prevent the spread of an unwanted species.
Image credit NASA
Mapping Invasive Species with MODIS
AVHRR and Mapping
Using Drones to Monitor Killer Whales
Taft and Haig use RADARSAT in their 2004 study. In the Willamette Valley Lowlands, they mapped the wetland habitats of wintering shorebirds in an agricultural landscape. By mapping the area in question on three different dates they were able to classify the different landcover types. This allowed them to see that there were more winter wetlands than expected. Surprisingly, RADARSAT was used here as it is not affected by clouds.
In a joint effort between NOAA Fisheries and the Vancouver Aquarium, a hexacopter was flown about 100ft above water to study resident killer whales. Watch the video to see how photographs from the drone were used by researchers to ID individuals and assess their health.
Image Credit: NOAA, Vancouver Aquarium
Image: Audubon Society
AVHRR data was used in this study to map the landscape phenology preference of the yellow-billed cuckoo, in the state of Arizona. It was found that this species preferred areas that exhibited peak greeness after the start of the summer monsoon. As this is a threatened species, the information from this study could be used to aid in conservation efforts.
Examples
Here you will find more examples of many of the different sensors mentioned on earlier pages. Click on the images to learn more!
ASTER is an excellent sensor for monitor in changes in a coral reef ecosystem, even when caused by an earth quake. Pre- and post-quake ASTER imagery is used to determine if and how much a reef system has shifted. Extreme uplift or subsidence can affect a reef's ability to survive.
Aster Images
Jan1 2004 & Feb 4 2005