“Another dimension, another dimension”* - sage lyrics from renowned wildlife enthusiasts, the Beastie Boys. That’s right, we have extended our wildlife monitoring system in the next dimension, 2D -> 3D! With our 3D Wildlife Tracking Systems, we will be able to do two very important things: * Monitor 3D bat activity around onshore wind turbines to answer questions about how bats are using the airspace under different wind conditions. Are bats flying lower in the RSA when the wind speed is higher due to wind shear? We’ll find out! * Track birds around offshore wind turbines to better characterize collision risk. Bird flight heights, fluxes and avoidance rates are critical inputs into collision risk models (CRM) and our system will be able to measure them. *Bonus points if you can name the track the lyrics came from.
I am excited to announce that Wildlife Imaging Systems has received a Phase 2 extension to our DOE SBIR award for developing “A Cost-Effective 3D Wildlife Tracking System”! We are going to extend the monitoring work that we currently do in 2D to 3D! Our solution will use the same thermal security cameras we have successfully deployed to monitor wildlife activity and will automatically calibrate itself using only the video collected. With these systems we will be able to do two very important things: * Monitor 3D bat activity around onshore wind turbines to answer questions about how bats are using the airspace under different wind conditions. Are bats flying lower in the RSA when the wind speed is higher due to wind shear? We’ll find out! * Track birds around offshore wind turbines to better characterize collision risk. Bird flight heights, fluxes and avoidance rates are critical inputs into collision risk models (CRM) and our system will be able to measure them. Big thanks to Jaden Varin, Jonathan Ritter and Henning Fischel for all their hard work getting us here. We are excited to take our work to the next dimension! #thermalimaging #wildlifeconservation #offshorewind #bats #birds