Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog! Have been MIA for a while as I have been busy with life. 😅
How is everyone doing? Hope everyone is well, home and safe!
Today, I will be talking about drones. Why? Because drones is a technology that has always fascinated me in a lot of ways. For instance, how it is now able to help track down Koalas! Â
Due to the recent Australian bushfire, the population of Koalas had since gone downhill. This is all because of how quick the fire was spreading and burning.
(Source:Â The Guardian)
(Source: Rolling Stone)
Because of how it escalated so quickly, the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has since developed a strategy by using DJI drones to track down Koalas.
One may ask, how did they do that?
According to Dr Hamilton from QUT, DJI drones are equipped with infrared cameras to detect surviving Koalas in the affected areas. These drones can then automatically detect the heat signals of the Koalas all thanks to an algorithm that was built by QUT researchers.
(Source: Brisbane Times)
In order to boost the performance of this strategy, researchers carried out an aerial sweep of the area early in the morning during winter months because of the differentiation between the body temperature of the Koalas and the background was likely to be outstanding. To do so, drones will be sweeping the area in a ‘lawnmower’ pattern by going up and down over a distinct area.
(Source: QUT News )
Once the drone has done its flight, data was put through an algorithm that was designed to notice the heat signatures of the Koalas versus different animals in the designated area.
As the researchers can confirm the location of the Koalas detected by the drones with the location of the Koalas determined by their GPS tags, the researchers were able to rate the accuracy of the system.Â
Once Koalas are located, the ground teams are using the drone to get a closer look and see if it needs medical attention. If the Koalas needs assistance, the team can use cherry pickers to bring them down. (Picture Below)
(Source: The Guardian)
By implementing this drone strategy, the accuracy of detecting Koala has also greatly increased. For example, according to Dr Hamilton, a skilled Koala spotter can achieve 70% of Koalas in a designated area but for drones, we can achieve around 86%. That is a significant improvement in terms of accuracy. This is important because populations of Koalas are at an all-time low and we need to protect them with all cost.
According to Dr Hamilton, using drones to detect Koalas is also a cheaper and quicker option. However, that does not mean it is going to represent humans because there are places where humans cannot access but the drones can and vice versa.
The biggest plus points to this are that drones can cover the area within a few hours whereas it does take humans up to a day to do the same job. As humans, we need to act quickly to save this threatened species which is now just under a 100,000 based on the Australian Koala Foundation News.
So, what do you think of using drones to save Koalas? Let me know in the comments down below.
*PS: Here are a few ways you can help the Australian Koala Foundation. Feel free to click on the links below on how you want to help them:
Thank you for reading my Koality content and hope you appreciate my Koality meme 😉
(Source: Meme)
Until next time!
Em's Digital Space 