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bioRxiv · 10.1101/165019

Drones count wildlife more accurately and precisely than humans

Hodgson, J. C.·Mott, R.·Baylis, S. M.·Pham, T. T.·Wotherspoon, S.·Kilpatrick, A. D.·Raja Segaran, R.·Reid, I.·Terauds, A.·Koh, L. P.
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Abstract

Ecologists are increasingly using technology to improve the quality of data collected on wildlife, particularly for assessing the environmental impacts of human activities. Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS; commonly known as drones) are widely touted as a cost-effective way to collect high quality wildlife population data, however, the validity of these claims is unclear. Using life-sized seabird colonies containing a known number of replica birds, we show that RPAS-derived data are, on average, between 43% and 96% more accurate than data from the traditional ground-based collection method. We also demonstrate that counts from this remotely sensed imagery can be semi-automated with a high degree of accuracy. The increased accuracy and precision of RPAS-derived wildlife monitoring data provides greater statistical power to detect fine-scale population fluctuations allowing for more informed and proactive ecological management.

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Hodgson, J. C., Mott, R., Baylis, S. M., Pham, T. T., Wotherspoon, S., Kilpatrick, A. D., Raja Segaran, R., Reid, I., Terauds, A., Koh, L. P.. 2017-07-18. Drones count wildlife more accurately and precisely than humans. https://doi.org/10.1101/165019

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