Thermal imagery for census of ungulates

Abstract

A Daedalus thermal linescanner mounted in a light single engine aircraft was used to image the entire 270 square kilometers within the fenced perimeter of ElK Island Park, Alberta, Canada. The data were collected during winter, 1976 in morning and midday (overcast conditions) processed and analyzed to obtain a number for total ungulates. Five different ungulate species were present during the survey. Ungulates were easily observed during the analysis of linescanner imagery and the total number of ungulates was established at 2175 compared to figures of 1010 and 1231 for visual method aerial survey results of the same area that year. It was concluded that the scanner was much more accurate and precise for census of ungulates than visual techniques.