Optical sensing in Tibet Plateau wildlife observation based on tethered balloon

Abstract

As the third pole of the earth, Qinghai Tibet Plateau breeds many unique species; their population size, living environment and migration process have been observed and studied by many researchers. However, these observations are mainly carried out in summer with UAVs when the temperature is high, while they are hard to work in winter since the harsh environment such as low temperature and strong wind. Here, we used a tethered balloon to observe and monitor Tibetan animals in the winter of Tibet Plateau with a long wave refrigeration infrared camera (resolution is 0.2 m@2 Km). The camera was installed on a two dimensional stable platform and was raised up to 150 m by the tethered balloon. The experiment results show that the camera on the tethered balloon can complete the observation in the harsh environment and obtain better images and videos including the mating process of two Tibetan antelopes. After this experiment, the acquired videos were used for further processing, such as motion detection and animal counting. This method can be used to observe other species occupying similar environment, such as Tibetan yak and Equus kiang.