Meeting Abstract
UAS technology is progressing rapidly whist still remaining relatively low cost. Remote survey using drones has become widely available and commercial software is available to produce high accuracy three-dimensional surface models. We have used these modalities to develop a new method for collecting locomotor data from free running wild animals remotely and also overlay this on surface models. Using a DJI Phantom 3 and Pix4D mapper software we were able to create three-dimensional (3D) geo-referenced terrain models from which we can extract ground control points. These ground control points can be used to remotely calibrate an area of interest, even after a free running animal has been filmed in the area. Using video footage of animal locomotion and calibration data speed, track and acceleration can be measured as well as visualising the 3D path of the animal(s). In order to validate these methods we surveyed ground control points with dual-frequency GPS, measured distance between obvious landmarks using a laser range finder and compared tracked positions of a dog running in the subject area wearing a dual-frequency GPS-IMU system.
