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Multi-Camera Videography Methods for Aeroecology

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Aeroecology

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Abstract

The ability to study the behavior of flying animals in their natural environment has been dramatically improved by recent advances in imaging technologies and video analysis tools. Stereo videography, in particular, has taken aeroecology to a new level. We here describe methods for estimating the three-dimensional flight paths of animals from image data recorded simultaneously by multiple visible-light or infrared cameras. We explain how the accuracy of these estimates is influenced by camera properties and placements, as well as calibration procedures. We include a description of potential pitfalls drawn from field experience with various bat and bird species and show some example stereoscopic reconstructions of bat and bird flight.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank N. Fuller, B. Jackson, E. Bluhm, D. Evangelista, Z. Wu, B. Borucki, A. Banks, A. Froschauer, and K. Swift for their research assistance. We thank D. Davis and D. Bamberger for property access and the Department of Texas Parks and Wildlife for permitting assistance. This work was partially funded by the Office of Naval Research [N000141010952 to M.B. and T.H.], the National Science Foundation [0910908 and 0855065 to M. B. and 1253276 to T. H.], and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research [FA9550-07-1-0540 to M. B.].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Boston University, Boston, MA, USA

    Margrit Betke & Diane Theriault

  2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Tyson Hedrick

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  1. Margrit Betke
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  2. Tyson Hedrick
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  3. Diane Theriault
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Correspondence to Margrit Betke or Tyson Hedrick .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Meteorology, Advanced Radar Research Laboratory, and Center for Autonomous Sensing and Sampling, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

    Phillip B. Chilson

  2. Senior Director of Conservation Science, Bat Conservation International, Austin, Texas, USA

    Winifred F. Frick

  3. Oklahoma Biological Survey, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

    Jeffrey F. Kelly

  4. Swiss Ornithological Institute, Sempach, Switzerland

    Felix Liechti

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Betke, M., Hedrick, T., Theriault, D. (2017). Multi-Camera Videography Methods for Aeroecology. In: Chilson, P., Frick, W., Kelly, J., Liechti, F. (eds) Aeroecology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68576-2_10

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