IDBR: Type A - An unmanned aerial radio tracking system for monitoring small wildlife species

Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff AZ

Investigators

Abstract

An award is made to Northern Arizona University to develop a new Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) system that integrates a radio telemetry receiver and data processing system for efficient detection and localization of tiny wildlife radio telemetry tags. The complete design, including parts, assembly plans, software, and training modules for the UAV-­RT system will be open sourced for widespread adoption of the technology, with dissemination and outreach by a user community website and demonstrations at wildlife conferences. The UAV-­RT system will also be disseminated to the public via media outreach, participation in community events, and collaboration with the Upward Bound Program at NAU to engage low-­ income rural high school students. The development goals of this program target rapid and widespread adoption of the technology by the biological and ecological research communities to enable new paradigms of field research with small wildlife species. The technology will benefit both scientific research and society by quickly improving the ability to understand the geographic distributions and habitat needs of many animal species. Current methods of locating and tracking small tagged animals are hampered by the inaccessibility of their habitats. The high costs, risk to human safety, and small sample sizes resulting from current radio telemetry methods limit the understanding of the movement and behaviors of many species. UAV-­based technologies promise to revolutionize a range of ecological field study paradigms due to the ability of a sensing platform to fly in close proximity to rough terrain at very low cost. The new UAV-­based radio telemetry (UAV-­RT) system will dramatically improve wildlife tracking capability while using inexpensive, commercially available radio tags. The system design will reflect the unique needs of wildlife tracking applications, including easy assembly and repair in the field and reduction of fire risk. A team of engineers and wildlife ecologists from Northern Arizona University and Cornell University will design and build the prototype system and conduct field deployments to demonstrate and improve its performance.