Real-time drone derived thermal imagery outperforms traditional survey methods for an arboreal forest mammal
Fig 2
Conceptual diagram of the three survey methodologies (Spotlight, RPAS, SAT) conducted within a fixed site quadrat (28–76 ha in size) at each survey location on the same morning in Port Stephens and Gilead, NSW, Australia.
(a) Systematic spotlighting nocturnal line-transect (Spotlight) spaced ~100 m apart with an observation distance of 50 m perpendicular to the left and right of the transect line, 03:00–06:00 hrs; (b) remotely piloted aircraft system thermal imaging (RPAS) flown in a lawn mower pattern as per Beranek et al. 2020 [29], 04:00–07:30 hrs; (c) the refined spot assessment technique (SAT) a grid-based arrangement at a frequency of one SAT survey per 8.6 ± 1.21 ha, 08:00–12:00 hrs.