Webcams for Bird Detection and Monitoring: A Demonstration Study

Sensors

Willem W. Verstraeten¹  Bart Vermeulen¹  Jan Stuckens¹  Stefaan Lhermitte²  Dimitry Van der Zande¹  Marc Van Ranst³ 

[1] M3-BIORES, Geomatics Engineering, K.U.Leuven, W. de Croylaan 34, BE-3001, Flanders, Belgium; E-Mails:;Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Aridas, Universidad de la Serena Benavente 980, Casilla 599, 172-0170 La Serena, Chile; E-Mail:;Laboratory of Clinical Virology, Rega Institute, K.U.Leuven, Minderbroedersstraat 10, BE-3000 Leuven, Flanders, Belgium; E-Mail:

关键词: bird migration;    webcams;    object detection;    object tracking;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s100403480

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Better insights into bird migration can be a tool for assessing the spread of avian borne infections or ecological/climatologic issues reflected in deviating migration patterns. This paper evaluates whether low budget permanent cameras such as webcams can offer a valuable contribution to the reporting of migratory birds. An experimental design was set up to study the detection capability using objects of different size, color and velocity. The results of the experiment revealed the minimum size, maximum velocity and contrast of the objects required for detection by a standard webcam. Furthermore, a modular processing scheme was proposed to track and follow migratory birds in webcam recordings. Techniques such as motion detection by background subtraction, stereo vision and lens distortion were combined to form the foundation of the bird tracking algorithm. Additional research to integrate webcam networks, however, is needed and future research should enforce the potential of the processing scheme by exploring and testing alternatives of each individual module or processing step.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2010 by the authors; licensee Molecular Diversity Preservation International, Basel, Switzerland.