By Dorte Larsen, Communication Specialist, AAU Communication and Public Affairs

Photo and video recording - thermal drone: Peter Povlsen and 7th-semester students Underwater drone video recording: Amanda Frederikke Irlind. Photos from South Africa: Nete Zielke and Louise Jakobsen.

The drone as a tool

Equipped with a thermal camera, the drone illuminates the animals in the darkness, while silently hovering over the landscape as night falls. Senior Researcher Sussie Pagh explains:

• Drone technology provides us with several advantages when conducting our wildlife counts. It allows us to reach farther into inaccessible landscapes, and the drone can cover more ground in less time.
• As researchers, at the Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, we closely collaborate with several students. We are all very interested in this new drone technology. Together, we experiment with the use of drones, aiming to expand our understanding of how this technology can be utilized in gathering various biological data.
• Drones make fieldwork easier, enabling us to collect data that would otherwise be unattainable on land due to human interference with the animals. Even though the drone is not silent, it can fly at a height that does not disturb the animals being observed," concludes Sussie Pagh.

Examples of monitoring nocturnal wildlife using thermal cameras

A drone equipped with a thermal camera can effectively monitor nocturnal wildlife, as four 7th-semester students worked on in 2022. Specifically, they counted roe deer in Lyngby Hede in collaboration with the Danish Nature Agency in Thy. The footage seen in the video above is from this project.

Peter Povlsen used the drone to count hares and worked on AI recognition of hares based on thermal photos. His final thesis focused on this subject, collaborating on the project with the Danish Hunters' Association.

Master's thesis students, Katrine Møller-Lassesen and Esther Enevoldsen in 2023 focused on identifying predatory animals from thermal photos using AI. Their goal is to use these images to determine where predators seek their food in the landscape. Additionally, they are investigating whether AI can distinguish between different predators and animals within the mustelid family, aiming to facilitate future monitoring of these animals.

Counting birds

Drone technology is also employed for bird counts, including knots, godwits, and waterfowl in the Wadden Sea. Associate Professor Dan Bruhn explains:

Experimental studies with eDNA

Another way to utilize drone technology is by combining it with another new tool for environmental monitoring called eDNA. Assistant Professor Nadieh de Jonge explains:

Underwater drone for seabed research

An underwater drone has already proven its worth, as Amanda Irlind, Alex Jørgensen, and Karen Ankersen Sønnichsen experimented with it along with Professor Niels Madsen. Their research, conducted in collaboration with the Computer Vision section of Media Technology, involving Malte Pedersen, Anders Skaarup Johansen, Jonathan Eichild Schmidt, and Professor Thomas B. Moeslund, entailed sending the drone to depths between 14 and 34 meters to film the seabed fauna. Amanda Irlind explains: