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Automation Assistance In Gathering and Analyzing Images of Arctic Ice Seals

Abstract

With the decrease in Arctic sea ice extent and the changes in ice characteristics, there is an immediate concern for the effects of these changes on the ecosystems of the Arctic. In the last three years, innovative approaches have been applied to address this concern. Unmanned aircraft, in addition to manned aircraft, are being flown in the Arctic to collect images of the ice. The unmanned flights have occurring from all eight of the Arctic countries. Analysis of the tens of thousands of images that are collected requires automation to allow for systematic and comprehensive analysis of the information gathered. We report here on the analysis of images and on improvements in the ability of software to assist in the identification of ice seals. Two significant benefits of this automation assistance are the reduction of researcher-to-researcher differences in the identification of seals, and the consistent analysis of seal attributes including length and size estimates. The software developments are a part of a larger, open source effort that is just starting to provide software that improve biologists’ ability to interpret the large amounts of image data becoming available for mammal surveys. In the case of seals, the simultaneous acquisition of sea-ice and population data may support new means of assessing habitat requirements and threats posed by loss of ice.

Article / Publication Data
Active/Online
YES
Available Metadata
Fiscal Year
Published On
January 01, 2011
Submitted On
June 16, 2011
Event

This publication was presented at the following:

Title
Society for Marine Mammalogy

Institutions

Not available

Author

Authors who have authored or contributed to this publication.

  • Elizabeth (Betsy) C. Weatherhead - Not Positioned Gsl
    Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder
    NOAA/Global Systems Laboratory