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Wild Life Protection

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The amount of animals killed in fields by either combine, harvesters or other agricultural practices reaches a couple hundred thousands yearly in Europe.

The inclusion of drones is highly recommended for this usage. Our software has already been used for this type of operations many times before even being officially released.

The best working method so far is described here.

Preparation​

All planned participants must have a mobile phone with an internet browser or the GeoWork android app installed. Since the connection to the GeoWork server is done through internet, participants must have either access to a wifi network on the field or have available mobile data. Email addresses associated to GeoWork accounts of all participants must be known. If participants have no account yet, they can be created later. The process to create an account for himself is described here.

Project creation​

The owner creates a project dedicated to the mission. Here is the process to create a project. Once done, the owner invites all participants. Missing accounts can be created and invited in one step at this point. Instructions to invite users is given here.

In the project, the owner creates also suitable marker states that will be used on the field, either through a template or manually. An example can be:

TO CHECK

CHECKED -> animal_species 1

CHECKED -> animal_species 2

CHECKED -> nothing

CHECKED -> unknown

Finally, if an orthomosaic is planned (see below) to be use, a layer group must exist to receive it. Here is explained how to create layer groups

POI gathering​

The first step is to gather possible positions of animals to rescue (Points of Interest). This is done with a drone fit with thermal camera. They are then two options: by the use of an orthomosaic or manually.

  1. Using an orthomosaic - Generation of an orthomosaic allows to be sure the whole field is covered in an automatic way but asks for photogrammetry tools. Here is the process:

    1. Fly the drone using a mission planning tool with overlapping thermal photo generation - Sweep all the field with the autopilot taking overlapping photos. For a thermal camera X-resolution of 640px, an altitude of 40m is correct.
    2. Generate the orthomosaic - Collect all photos and generate a GeoTIFF orthomosaic from them (eg. through WebODM)
    3. Import the orthophoto as a layer in GeoWork - Import the orthomosaic so that is becomes a layer in the project. Here is how to create a layer.
    4. Browse the layer and put markers at POIs - In GeoWork, look for POIs and create manually markers at their positions. Here is how to create markers.

  2. Without orthomosaic - If generating an orthomosaic is problematic, another way is possible consisting in taking photos of POIs only:

    1. Look for POIs with the drone - Sweep the field with the drone and continuously monitor the camera feedback for POIs.
    2. Place the drone above the POI - Once a POI is identified, place manually the drone above it so that it is right in the center of the view and take a photo.
    3. Import photos in GeoWork - Import these photos directly in GeoWork, which will use their metadata to create a corresponding marker at the right place on the map. Here is how to do create markers from photos.

Animal rescue​

As soon as markers are created, participants can start processing them. To organise the team, before a participant can start processing a marker he must be assigned to it (instructions on how to assign a user to a marker are here). Two ways are possible to distribute POIs between participants:

  1. The project owner assigns markers to participants - This can be done typically at the beginning of the mission.
  2. Participants can also assign themselves to markers - For example, when a marker is processed, the participant can assign himself to the next free marker.

When a participant is assigned to a marker, he can:

  1. Reach the marker - With the help of the map were he can see its own location or by the use of the compass, the participant reaches the POI.
  2. Do the duty - Take care of the animal in question if needed.
  3. Take a photo - The participant can take a photo of what is found at the POI (the animal if some, the empty place else) and add it to the marker. Here is how to add a photo to a marker.
  4. Change the state of the marker - The marker state is changed (eg. from "TO CHECK" to "CHECKED"). Here is how to change the state of a marker.
  5. Assign himself to another marker. - Here is how to change the assign a user to a marker.