Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles

An Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAV), or aerial drone, is an aircraft that flies without a pilot or operator onboard. They can be controlled by a pilot either remotely or pre-programmed to fly autonomously on a path of waypoints or on a mission. The UAV refers to the vehicle or aircraft itself. It is also common to refer to Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UASs), which include the control station, communication links, and other components.

UAVs are increasingly used for a variety of research applications, including terrestrial and marine wildlife monitoring. UAVs are valuable tools as they offer the potential for conducting efficient and minimally invasive observations of wildlife over large areas. 

Mavic Pro Platinum/ Phantom 4 Pro v2.0

Inspire 1 Pro

UAVs can carry a variety of sensors including:

  • GPS (accurate positioning)
  • Cameras (still, video, thermal imaging, multispectral)
  • LiDAR (habitat mapping)

Using these devices, researchers are able to inexpensively monitor and collect data on marine mammal populations. UAVs can also be used to deploy digital acoustic tags on marine animals. These data provide valuable insights into their vocalizations, distribution, migration, density, behaviors, health, genetics, and growth.

UAV or drone operators are reminded that there may be regulations associated with the use of these technologies and/or necessary licenses as a UAV pilot and to check local laws before beginning operations. 

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References

  • Baker, C.S., Steel, D., Nieukirk, S., and Klinck, H. (2018). Environmental DNA (eDNA) From the Wake of the Whales: Droplet Digital PCR for Detection and Species Identification. Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol. 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2018.00133
  • Gonzalez LF, Montes GA, Puig E, Johnson S, Mengersen K, Gaston KJ. (2016). Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Artificial Intelligence Revolutionizing Wildlife Monitoring and Conservation. Sensors (Basel). 2016 Jan 14;16(1):97. https://doi.org/10.3390/s16010097
  • Hodgson, J.C., Baylis, S.M., Mott, R., Herrod, A., and Clarke, R.H. (2016). Precision wildlife monitoring using unmanned aerial vehicles. Sci Rep. 2016 Mar 17;6:22574. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep22574
  • O’Mahony, É. N., Sremba, A. L., Keen, E. M., Robinson, N., Dundas, A., Steel, D., Wray, J., Baker, C. S., & Gaggiotti, O. E. (2024). Collecting baleen whale blow samples by drone: A minimally intrusive tool for conservation genetics. Molecular Ecology Resources, 24, e13957. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13957
  • Stepien, E.N., Khan, J., Galatius, A., and Teilmann, J. (2024). How low can you go? Exploring impact of drones on haul out behaviour of harbour – and grey seals. Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol. 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2024.1411292
  • Yang, Z., Yu, X., Dedman, S., Rosso, M., Zhu, J., Yang, J., Xia, Y., Tian, Y., Zhang, G., and Wang J. (2022). UAV remote sensing applications in marine monitoring: Knowledge visualization and review. Sci Total Environ. 2022 Sep 10;838(Pt 1):155939. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155939
  • Yuan, S., Li, Y., Bao, F., Xu, H., Yang, Y., Yan, Q., Zhong, S., Yin, H., Xu, J., Huang, Z., and Lin, J. (2023). Marine environmental monitoring with unmanned vehicle platforms: Present applications and future prospects. Sci Total Environ. 2023 Feb 1;858(Pt 1):159741. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159741