Thermal imaging drone surveys

Thermal Imaging Drone Deer Surveys – A Modern Technology for Deer Survey

Spotting a wild deer has become common in the UK across all types of terrains, especially in the lowland regions. Although the exact size of the deer population is unknown, it has undoubtedly reached a high of approximately 2 million in the countryside.

 

Deer are an indispensable part of the UK’s natural biodiversity. However, with their population reaching its highest level, they have outgrown their habitats and are causing damage to other environmental habitats. They graze woodlands, croplands, and other forms of vegetation, which subsequently impacts natural regeneration and ecological balance.

This situation calls for government and local agencies to control deer populations to reinstate balance in biodiversity. While seeking measures to count the deer population, wildlife surveyors are now adopting advanced drone technology over primary methods like helicopters for deer counting. It not only helps overcome the difficulties of deer damage surveying through optical vision but brings many advantages, like enhanced safety and detailed data.

 

If you are wondering how thermal drone deer surveys work, this blog will explain them. It will also discuss the benefits of using thermal imaging drones for surveys, the challenges faced during drone surveys, and how thermal drone surveys contribute to deer management. Without further ado, let’s get started.

How Does the Thermal Imaging Drone Help in the Deer Survey?

Controlling the deer population has become paramount in the UK to manage woodland growth and maintain local ecological balance. The country’s deer population is remarkably high, with many encountering deer impacts in various regions.

 

As the need to control the deer population through effective measures is felt widely, an accurate census count is necessary. Deer population estimation helps land owners, woodland managers, farmers, and responsible authorities to predict the overpopulation of deer in their regions. They use survey results to take appropriate preventive measures for deer management and ongoing landscape scale protection.

 

Thermal drone deer surveys emerged as one of the most advanced technologies for surveyors to accurately count deer in woodland or on a property. Here is why thermal drone surveying in the UK is increasingly used for deer counting by government agencies, wildlife trusts, property owners, and community groups to undertake measures for Wildlife tracking systems.

 

      • Drones, or more specifically, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are operated using thermal imaging technology. They are aircraft operated remotely and integrated with infrared sensors.

      • The use of drones for deer surveys has increased because of the convenience of their operations and the high-quality spatial data they provide. By conducting thermal imaging drone surveys over land, surveyors accurately collect data on the deer population. With survey results, they help wildlife consultants determine measures for management and impact prevention.

      • A drone flies across a site using rotating propellers, usually four, which spin continuously in alternate directions to keep its position stable. It has speed controllers, which help fly at higher altitudes or over long distances, skipping terrain obstacles.

      • The drones use thermal imaging technology to capture digital images and radio signalling to relay video information to the pilot. As a result, surveyors get spatial data on the deer population faster and transmit it in real-time to the wildlife consultants to help them gather information on deer age and gender distribution, behaviours, and movement patterns.  

      • Drones can navigate through tall vegetation and thick forest canopies to capture images through thermal imaging and count the deer population in the region.
    • Surveyors can also present the routes for some advanced drones using GPS coordinates. This lets the drone fly across a site, providing data on the deer population.

     

    Using Drones to Count Deer

    While drones are reliable devices for conducting deer surveys, let’s understand the mechanisms behind their thermal imaging technology that helps to count deer.

    A drone uses its camera equipped with thermal sensors to spot deer and identify their species, gender and age class, while you pilot them over a property or woodland. They have a ‘central flight controller’ to ensure positional stability and control speed amidst wind and other atmospheric conditions.

     

    The thermal imaging sensors are chiefly responsible for deer counting during the census. Thermal imaging is used to detect any terrestrial region’s heat patterns or temperature differences regardless of light availability. The camera captures the thermal images through detecting the infrared radiation and converting it to images. The use of thermal imaging along with RGB cameras makes it possible to identify the specific subject, i.e., deer, in your drone survey.

     

    While infrared heat (or radiation) emitted from an object or living organism is invisible to the human eye, thermal imaging sensors detect it as infrared energy and convert it into visual images. The thermal imaging technology uses complex algorithms to convert the infrared energy signatures and show them as clear visual images on a display.

    Deer are warm-blooded animals, so they become easily identifiable during thermal drone deer surveys. They are mainly challenging to spot in woodland because of thick vegetation.

    Drone thermal sensors rely on line of sight to pick up the heat signals from deer bodies regardless of their surroundings and provide accurate data for deer census counts.

     

    Needless to say, thermal imaging is immensely effective as a wildlife management technology. It detects wildlife inhabitation in any terrain, even the dense woodland canopies or grasses that obscure the presence of deer.

     

    Therefore, you get an accurate minimum baseline population with a thermal imaging drone survey in a selected habitat and comprehend their distribution, densities and other attributes necessary for determining control measures.

    Benefits of Droned-Based Deer Surveys

    Thermal drone deer surveying has become the most viable method today for deer counting. The accurate data obtained through the survey helps deer managers and consultants better understand population variations, distribution, behavioural patterns, threats to other habitats, and so on.

     

    Deer are an extensive part of the biodiversity in the UK, so deer managers seek to conserve the deer population whilst controlling their impact across farmlands, dense forests, agricultural lands, and other natural environments. Thermal drone deer surveys are becoming widely useful for wildlife management and consultation because of the following benefits.

     

     

      •       Aerial view
       

      Drones make it easier to view herds of deer over a terrain from above, which gives the surveyor a minimum count of deer. Thermal imaging from the ground often cannot penetrate the dense woodland and undulating ground proves to be a problem. Hence, an aerial view is necessary to get a clear idea about the deer’s presence.

       

      • Advanced technology 
       

      The latest thermal imaging technology makes drone deer surveys more accessible, convenient and with better results for woodland managers. The thermal drone helps spot the deer while traversing the woodland, areas of thick vegetation, or any features of the terrain that obscure the sight of deer. Counting deer populations is possible even when they are in woodland or thick vegetation. The drone’s thermal sensors pick up the metabolic heat signatures emitted by their bodies.

       

      • Easy to survey in all types of terrain
       

      Drones can access any type of terrain, including mountains, dense forests and reedbeds. While investigating deer population counts through traditional on-the-ground methods is difficult to carry out in some terrains, they can now easily and safely be carried out through use of drones.

       

      • Minimized disturbance 
       

      Thermal drone deer surveys are preferred to any other ground survey methods due to a reduced disturbance of wildlife. Pilots capture the data from a distance without alerting or stressing the deer.

       

      This goes without saying that drones use high-resolution cameras and thermal imaging technology that allows easy identification of species, sex and age class of the deer. This helps wildlife researchers and managers with accurate data collection of deer quantities using cloud based GIS software for further processing of distributions and densities throughout the operational site.

       

      • Safety of surveyors
       

      Drones help surveyors from entering, such as forests, risky terrain, or any harmful environment for deer and any other wildlife surveys. Thereby, thermal drones ensure surveyors’ safety while collecting valuable data.

      A Few Surprising Challenges of Thermal Drone Deer Surveys

      Despite all the advantages of thermal drone deer surveys, a few factors make navigating such surveys challenging in certain situations.  Thus, if you plan to conduct a drone deer survey to inspect their presence or damage to your operating site, consider these few downsides.

       

      • Finding The Best Flying Time
      •  

      Atmospheric conditions, especially wind and fog, make piloting of the drone difficult. Besides, it is not always possible to determine the air conditions at a higher altitude. Therefore, it is crucial to predict the best time for the drone flight to successfully complete your survey with accurate data collection without damaging the drone. One must also consider the capability of thermal imaging, which does not work well in fog. The best time to fly the thermal imaging drone is often an hour before the sunrise, as the deer can still be out feeding.

       

      • Structural interference
      •  

      Although drones can overcome most obstructions, including rugged mountainous terrain, tall trees, and buildings, they might cling to some barriers. This is why a skilled pilot with certificates must carry out thermal imaging drone deer surveys. Before conducting the survey, the pilot analyses the site for any areas of potential risks with structural interference and mitigates them.

       

      • Technical Difficulties
      •  

      High-end drones combined with cloud-based GIS data collection software provide real-time viewing of data collection, which enables property owners, woodland managers, wildlife managers,etc., to watch the collection of data take place.

       

      Effects of Thermal Drone Deer Surveys on Plans on Deer Management Plans

      With the deer population multiplying, their habitats are less able to support them. The deer, in the search of a food source, may affect other habitats.

      Many wildlife consultants and managers are initiating plans for deer management by using drones’ thermal imaging capabilities. In other words, drones are helping them to derive precise and valuable insights into deer distribution, density and range throughout selected habitats.

      Let’s briefly unravel thermal drones’ effectiveness for deer management.

       

      • Comprehensive distribution analysis
      •  

      Drones offer an accurate minimum baseline population figures supported by detailed images of any deer observed on the site. The unparalleled aerial perspective of the landscape allows the surveyors to monitor and track every minute detail regarding deer movement.

      Thermal imaging drone deer surveys help observe the numbers of deer on agricultural land and other habitats. Drone footage revealing deer presence on a property can later be confirmed with and supported by terrestrial surveys. Wildlife consultants and specialists can then immediately plan measures to control the impact of damage caused by deer.

       

      • Evaluation of environmental impact
      •  

      Thermal drone surveying in the UK has become especially useful for deer management because of its invaluable ability to accurately assess the baseline population of deer and their environmental impact. Such crucial information regarding the deer population assists wildlife managers in formulating deer management plans.

       

       

      • Support for grant applications
      •  

      The detailed data and imagery, captured through thermal drone deer surveys, is significantly instrumental in providing support for applications made for grants associated with the deer management. The high-quality data and imagery on the habitation of deer throughout properties provide solid evidence for funding needed for deer management strategies.

      This means woodland managers can strengthen their proposals for a deer management services and seek financial support through grants.

      Get Your Thermal Drone Deer Surveys Conducted With Boddy Environment Ltd

      Drones or Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are becoming an inevitable part of deer and other wildlife management. They are useful for conducting comprehensive surveys across vast woodlands, natural habitats and various other sites, which help consultants effectively plan deer management and damage control mitigations.

       

      Thermal imaging drone surveys are increasingly used for deer management and planning because of their impressive benefits.

       

      We at Boddy Environmental Ltd. conduct thermal drone deer surveys for government agencies, wildlife trusts, community groups, and property owners. We assess deer habitation and impacts at a site that helps them take necessary actions to manage the deer population effectively whilst maintaining ecological balance.

       

      Are you a property owner or wildlife manager who needs quality wildlife surveying services? Contact us to conduct the highest-quality deer drone survey, which provides accurate results and helps you make decisions regarding habitat management and deer damage control measures.

       

      Spotting a wild deer has become common in the UK across all types of terrains, especially in the lowland regions. Although the exact size of the deer population is unknown, it has undoubtedly reached a high of approximately 2 million in the countryside.

       

      Deer are an indispensable part of the UK’s natural biodiversity. However, with their population reaching its highest level, they have outgrown their habitats and are causing damage to other environmental habitats. They graze woodlands, croplands, and other forms of vegetation, which subsequently impacts natural regeneration and ecological balance.

      This situation calls for government and local agencies to control deer populations to reinstate balance in biodiversity. While seeking measures to count the deer population, wildlife surveyors are now adopting advanced drone technology over primary methods like helicopters for deer counting. It not only helps overcome the difficulties of surveying through optical vision but brings many advantages, like enhanced safety and detailed data.

       

      If you are wondering how thermal drone deer surveys work, this blog will explain them. It will also discuss the benefits of using thermal imaging drones for surveys, the challenges faced during drone surveys, and how thermal drone surveys contribute to deer management. Without further ado, let’s get started.

      How Does the Thermal Imaging Drone Help in the Deer Survey?

      Controlling the deer population has become paramount in the UK to manage woodland growth and maintain local ecological balance. The country’s deer population is remarkably high, with many encountering deer impacts in various regions.

       

      As the need to control the deer population through effective measures is felt widely, an accurate census count is necessary. Deer population estimation helps land owners, woodland managers, farmers, and responsible authorities to predict the overpopulation of deer in their regions. They use survey results to take appropriate preventive measures for deer management and ongoing landscape scale protection.

       

      Thermal drone deer surveys emerged as one of the most advanced technologies for surveyors to accurately count deer in woodland or on a property. Here is why thermal drone surveying in the UK is increasingly used for deer counting by government agencies, wildlife trusts, property owners, and community groups to undertake measures for wildlife management.

       

       

        • Drones, or more specifically, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are operated using thermal imaging technology. They are aircraft operated remotely and integrated with infrared sensors.

        • The use of drones for deer surveys has increased because of the convenience of their operations and the high-quality spatial data they provide. By conducting thermal imaging drone surveys over land, surveyors accurately collect data on the deer population. With survey results, they help wildlife consultants determine measures for management and impact prevention.

        • A drone flies across a site using rotating propellers, usually four, which spin continuously in alternate directions to keep its position stable. It has speed controllers, which help fly at higher altitudes or over long distances, skipping terrain obstacles.

        • The drones use thermal imaging technology to capture digital images and radio signalling to relay video information to the pilot. As a result, surveyors get spatial data on the deer population faster and transmit it in real-time to the wildlife consultants to help them gather information on deer age and gender distribution, behaviours, and movement patterns.  

        • Drones can navigate through tall vegetation and thick forest canopies to capture images through thermal imaging and count the deer population in the region.

        • Surveyors can also present the routes for some advanced drones using GPS coordinates. This lets the drone fly across a site, providing data on the deer population.

      Using Drones to Count Deer

      While drones are reliable devices for conducting deer surveys, let’s understand the mechanisms behind their thermal imaging technology that helps to count deer.

      A drone uses its camera equipped with thermal sensors to spot deer and identify their species, gender and age class, while you pilot them over a property or woodland. They have a ‘central flight controller’ to ensure positional stability and control speed amidst wind and other atmospheric conditions.

       

      The thermal imaging sensors are chiefly responsible for deer counting during the census. Thermal imaging is used to detect any terrestrial region’s heat patterns or temperature differences regardless of light availability. The camera captures the thermal images through detecting the infrared radiation and converting it to images. The use of thermal imaging along with RGB cameras makes it possible to identify the specific subject, i.e., deer, in your drone survey.

       

      While infrared heat (or radiation) emitted from an object or living organism is invisible to the human eye, thermal imaging sensors detect it as infrared energy and convert it into visual images. The thermal imaging technology uses complex algorithms to convert the infrared energy signatures and show them as clear visual images on a display.

      Deer are warm-blooded animals, so they become easily identifiable during thermal drone deer surveys. They are mainly challenging to spot in woodland because of thick vegetation.

      Drone thermal sensors rely on line of sight to pick up the heat signals from deer bodies regardless of their surroundings and provide accurate data for deer census counts.

       

      Needless to say, thermal imaging is immensely effective as a wildlife management technology. It detects wildlife inhabitation in any terrain, even the dense woodland canopies or grasses that obscure the presence of deer.

       

      Therefore, you get an accurate minimum baseline population with a thermal imaging drone survey in a selected habitat and comprehend their distribution, densities and other attributes necessary for determining control measures.

      Benefits of Droned-Based Deer Surveys

      Thermal drone deer surveying has become the most viable method today for deer counting. The accurate data obtained through the survey helps deer managers and consultants better understand population variations, distribution, behavioural patterns, threats to other habitats, and so on.

       

      Deer are an extensive part of the biodiversity in the UK, so deer managers seek to conserve the deer population whilst controlling their impact across farmlands, dense forests, agricultural lands, and other natural environments.

       

      Thermal drone deer surveys are becoming widely useful for wildlife management and consultation because of the following benefits.

       

      • Aerial view
       

      Drones make it easier to view herds of deer over a terrain from above, which gives the surveyor a minimum count of deer. Thermal imaging from the ground often cannot penetrate the dense woodland and undulating ground proves to be a problem. Hence, an aerial view is necessary to get a clear idea about the deer’s presence.

       

       

      • Advanced technology
       

      The latest thermal imaging technology makes drone deer surveys more accessible, convenient and with better results for woodland managers. The thermal drone helps spot the deer while traversing the woodland, areas of thick vegetation, or any features of the terrain that obscure the sight of deer. Counting deer populations is possible even when they are in woodland or thick vegetation. The drone’s thermal sensors pick up the metabolic heat signatures emitted by their bodies.

       

       

      • Easy to survey in all types of terrain
       

      Drones can access any type of terrain, including mountains, dense forests and reedbeds. While investigating deer population counts through traditional on-the-ground methods is difficult to carry out in some terrains, they can now easily and safely be carried out through use of drones.

       

       

      • Minimized disturbance
       

      Thermal drone deer surveys are preferred to any other ground survey methods due to a reduced disturbance of wildlife. Pilots capture the data from a distance without alerting or stressing the deer.

      This goes without saying that drones use high-resolution cameras and thermal imaging technology that allows easy identification of species, sex and age class of the deer. This helps wildlife researchers and managers with accurate data collection of deer quantities using cloud based GIS software for further processing of distributions and densities throughout the operational site.

       

       

      • Safety of surveyors
       

      Drones help surveyors from entering, such as forests, risky terrain, or any harmful environment for deer and any other wildlife surveys. Thereby, thermal drones ensure surveyors’ safety while collecting valuable data.

      A Few Surprising Challenges of Thermal Drone Deer Surveys

      Despite all the advantages of thermal drone deer surveys, a few factors make navigating such surveys challenging in certain situations.  Thus, if you plan to conduct a drone deer survey to inspect their presence or damage to your operating site, consider these few downsides.

       

       

      • Finding The Best Flying Time
       

      Atmospheric conditions, especially wind and fog, make piloting of the drone difficult. Besides, it is not always possible to determine the air conditions at a higher altitude. Therefore, it is crucial to predict the best time for the drone flight to successfully complete your survey with accurate data collection without damaging the drone. One must also consider the capability of thermal imaging, which does not work well in fog. The best time to fly the thermal imaging drone is often an hour before the sunrise, as the deer can still be out feeding.

       

       

      • Structural interference
       

      Although drones can overcome most obstructions, including rugged mountainous terrain, tall trees, and buildings, they might cling to some barriers. This is why a skilled pilot with certificates must carry out thermal imaging drone deer surveys. Before conducting the survey, the pilot analyses the site for any areas of potential risks with structural interference and mitigates them.

       

       

      • Technical Difficulties
       

      High-end drones combined with cloud-based GIS data collection software provide real-time viewing of data collection, which enables property owners, woodland managers, wildlife managers,etc., to watch the collection of data take place.

       

      Effects of Thermal Drone Deer Surveys on Plans on Deer Management Plans

      With the deer population multiplying, their habitats are less able to support them. The deer, in the search of a food source, may affect other habitats.

      Many wildlife consultants and managers are initiating plans for deer management by using drones’ thermal imaging capabilities. In other words, drones are helping them to derive precise and valuable insights into deer distribution, density and range throughout selected habitats.

      Let’s briefly unravel thermal drones’ effectiveness for deer management.

       

       

      • Comprehensive distribution analysis
       

      Drones offer an accurate minimum baseline population figures supported by detailed images of any deer observed on the site. The unparalleled aerial perspective of the landscape allows the surveyors to monitor and track every minute detail regarding deer movement.

      Thermal imaging drone deer surveys help observe the numbers of deer on agricultural land and other habitats. Drone footage revealing deer presence on a property can later be confirmed with and supported by terrestrial surveys. Wildlife consultants and specialists can then immediately plan measures to control the impact of damage caused by deer.

       

       

      • Evaluation of environmental impact
       

      Thermal drone surveying in the UK has become especially useful for deer management because of its invaluable ability to accurately assess the baseline population of deer and their environmental impact.

       

      Such crucial information regarding the deer population assists wildlife managers in formulating deer management plans.

       

       

      • Support for grant applications
       

      The detailed data and imagery, captured through thermal drone deer surveys, is significantly instrumental in providing support for applications made for grants associated with the deer management. The high-quality data and imagery on the habitation of deer throughout properties provide solid evidence for funding needed for deer management strategies.

      This means woodland managers can strengthen their proposals for a deer management plan and seek financial support through grants.

      Get Your Thermal Drone Deer Surveys Conducted With Boddy Environment Ltd.

      Drones or Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are becoming an inevitable part of deer and other wildlife management. They are useful for conducting comprehensive surveys across vast woodlands, natural habitats and various other sites, which help consultants effectively plan deer management and damage control mitigations.

      Thermal imaging drone surveys are increasingly used for deer management and planning because of their impressive benefits.

       

      We at Boddy Environmental Ltd conduct thermal drone deer surveys for government agencies, wildlife trusts, community groups, and property owners. We assess deer habitation and impacts at a site that helps them take necessary actions to manage the deer population effectively whilst maintaining ecological balance.

       

      Are you a property owner or wildlife manager who needs quality wildlife surveying services? Contact us to conduct the highest-quality deer drone survey, which provides accurate results and helps you make decisions regarding habitat management and deer damage control measures.