Tracking terrestrial animals
- Date:
- December 1, 2016
- Source:
- Acoustical Society of America (ASA)
- Summary:
- What does the detection of enemy planes during WWI have to do with locating endangered Mojave Ground Squirrels? They both benefit from a technique called acoustic beamforming which uses multiple devices to find the point of intersection and pinpoint location. A team of researchers is developing a system using this WWI-era technology to detect and locate endangered Mojave Ground Squirrels on Edwards Air Force Base. They aim to assess populations and any impact the base's activities may be having on the population.
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What does the detection of enemy planes during WWI have to do with locating endangered Mojave Ground Squirrels? They both benefit from a technique called acoustic beamforming which uses multiple devices to find the point of intersection and pinpoint location. A multi-institutional team of researchers led by Dean Hawthorne at Cornell University and William Horn from Coherent Technical Services, Inc. is working to develop a system using this WWI-era technology to detect and locate endangered Mojave Ground Squirrels on Edwards Air Force Base in California. They aim to assess populations and any impact the base's activities may be having on the population.
"While acoustic beamforming is not new, the novelty comes in the development," Hawthorne explained. "The hardware is unobtrusive enough that the animals will barely know it's there and we get to observe in detail the behavior of animals in the wild, essentially unperturbed by humans; that's exciting."
During the 172nd Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and the 5th Joint Meeting with Acoustical Society of Japan, being held Nov. 28-Dec. 2, 2016, in Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawthorne will describe how the ultimate goal of this work is conservation through observation and acoustics is a tool to enable the kind of tracking necessary, particularly in harsh environments that could be dangerous to humans as well as disruptive to the observed animal populations.
"This technology can be used to detect almost anything that makes a recognizable sound, including animals and machines like aircraft," Hawthorne said. "The system is rugged, so it can be deployed in harsh environments, places where a human being might be in danger."
Acoustic beamforming requires an array of microphones; in this case, the team used 16. A challenge for the team was getting the electronics correct for 16 channels, but one that they overcame with persistence and patience.
After initial testing on the East Coast, the system will be deployed at Edwards to help biologists make informed decisions about how to conserve the Mojave Ground Squirrel. But Hawthorne thinks that is only the beginning.
"We think the system can have a big impact on the field of conservation," he said. "All you need to know is what the animal sounds like, and you can detect and locate those animals over an area the size of a football field."
"Biologists need information about populations in order to make good decisions about how best to conserve our natural biodiversity," Hawthorne added, "and this system could be a useful tool in that fight."
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Materials provided by Acoustical Society of America (ASA). Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
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