Using super-high resolution satellite imagery to census threatened albatrosses

Fretwell, Peter T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1988-5844; Scofield, Paul; Phillips, Richard A.. 2017 Using super-high resolution satellite imagery to census threatened albatrosses. Ibis, 159 (3). 481-490. 10.1111/ibi.12482

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Abstract/Summary

This study is the first to utilize 30-cm resolution imagery from the WorldView-3 (WV-3) satellite to count wildlife directly. We test the accuracy of the satellite method for directly counting individuals at a well-studied colony of Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans at South Georgia, and then apply it to the closely related Northern Royal Albatross Diomedea sanfordi, which is near-endemic to the Chatham Islands and of unknown recent population status due to the remoteness and limited accessibility of the colonies. At South Georgia, satellite-based counts were comparable to ground-based counts of Wandering Albatross nests, with a slight over-estimation due to the presence of non-breeding birds. In the Chatham Islands, satellite-based counts of Northern Royal Albatross in the 2015/2016 season were similar to ground-based counts undertaken on the Forty-Fours islands in 2009/2010, but much lower than ground-based counts undertaken on The Sisters islands in 2009/2010, which is of major conservation concern for this endangered albatross species. We conclude that the ground-breaking resolution of the newly available WV-3 satellite will provide a step change in our ability to count albatrosses and other large birds directly from space without disturbance, at potentially lower cost and with minimal logistical effort.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1111/ibi.12482
Programmes:	BAS Programmes > BAS Programmes 2015 > Ecosystems BAS Programmes > BAS Corporate
ISSN:	0019-1019
Date made live:	24 May 2017 13:08 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/515815

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