San Diego Zoo Will Use Drone To Monitor Polar Bear Habitat
Next month, San Diego Zoo Global researchers will use a custom made drone to observe polar bears in the Canadian arctic and study the effect of changing sea patterns on the animals. Previous studies of polar bears were limited because they relied on satellite images which was costly to operate and could not provide vivid images of how the animals react to changing sea patterns in the Canadian arctic. All this is set to change, thanks to the drone revolution. Northrop Grumman has teamed up with scientists and researchers to create a special six-rotor drone for the purpose of monitoring the polar bears.
The drone operates autonomously with the aim of providing images of the polar bears in a way that has never been seen before. Currently, there are only a few studies of polar bears that utilizes direct observation. The initiative of the San Diego Zoo Global researchers is meant to be a turning point in the direct observation of polar bears. The deployment of the autonomous drones would reveal real time images of the species in a way that has never been seen before. This would help guide scientists and conservationists all over the world on how best to conserve the species.
The autonomous drones that would be deployed for this project comes with a variety of sensors that operates simultaneously at high resolution. This makes the drone capable of capturing and providing high quality images and video of sea ice. The drones come with an added protection that would enable it to function optimally in cold weather. This protective shielding protects it from the freezing temperatures and keeps it warm enough to allow the batteries to function effectively.
When deployed, the drone would collect data simultaneously with its multiple sensors and relay the information to scientists. When this information is analyzed together, scientists would have a better understanding of the Canadian Arctic and how it affects polar bears that live there. The drone was tested last year by Northrop Grumman engineers who wanted to examine its performance under extreme weather conditions.
The custom drone would provide a clear view of polar bears and a fine scale view of sea ice without interfering with the natural way of life of the animals or the sea ice habitat. The expedition next month is dubbed Operation PolarEye. During the mission, the team would live stream video captured by the drone to the ground station.
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