UAS Enlisted for Canadian Wildlife Study
Photo: University of North Dakota.
A longstanding Canadian wildlife study has integrated unmanned aircraft into its research program, using the UAS to study geese in a portion of Manitoba so remote that it’s only accessible by helicopter.
As part of the Hudson Bay Project, which has been conducted for nearly five decades, a research team led by the University of North Dakota took a 5.5-pound Styrofoam UAS to the region to study an overabundance of geese in the area to gauge their impact on the region.
“We have been able to enhance and extend our geographical coverage and to do it in a way that precludes potential disturbances of the very ecosystem we are studying,” says Robert Rockwell, a project scientist and research associate at the American Museum of Natural History, one of the partners in the research. “It also helps us avoid confrontation with the ever-present bears, the region’s top predators. The first year’s operations were a grand success by any measure, and I look forward to expanding our efforts in 2016 and beyond.”
The UAS flew at altitudes of about 250 feet, capturing images of snow geese and other birds at one-second intervals. The images were then stitched together.
The team had extensive training before receiving its special flight operations certificate. The UAS flights were conducted through the approval of Parks Canada and Transport Canada.
