轻小型无人机航摄技术辅助的热带森林样地测量精度问题探讨

准确的样地坐标位置是无人机航摄数据与地面调查数据融合使用的必要前提, 但是在森林样地的具体实践中, 会有许多因素制约着样地位置的测量精度, 这有可能影响后期的数据融合过程甚至得出错误的结论, 研究者们需要对此予以足够的重视。本文通过对比西双版纳地区10个热带森林样地及周围区域无人机航摄过程中的地面控制点测量精度、Photoscan摄影测量软件所得点云解算精度和照片曝光点重投影精度, 发现: (1)即使使用性能相对较好的实时差分(real time kinematic, RTK)式GNSS系统进行定位, 在林内也很难获得很好的定位精度, 林窗处的地面控制点均方根误差(root mean square error, RMSE)在水平和垂直方向分别为0.167 ± 0.158 m和0.297 ± 0.170 m, 林下样地顶点桩处分别为0.392 ± 0.368 m和0.657 ± 0.412 m; (2)软件的全局解算精度主要受控制点地面测量精度和控制点数量的影响; (3)若仅依托普通的单站式GPS对无人机位置进行定位, 则照片曝光点的重投影坐标位置可能存在较大误差(RMSE在水平和垂直方向上分别为18.434 ± 5.252 m和34.042 ± 6.920 m); (4)估测地形与实测地形间的高差标准差与林冠平均高度正相关(r = 0.713, P < 0.05), 估测地形模型在20 ha样地尺度下的验证结果优于1 ha样地。基于以上结果, 我们建议: (1)在对热带森林进行无人机航摄的过程中, 必须有足够数量和质量的分布相对均匀的地面控制点对测量误差进行控制; (2)摄影测量法的优势在于能够以相对简单的前端设备建立数字表面模型, 但该方法可能很难在森林样地中建立准确的数字地形模型。在使用无人机获取数据之前, 研究者应预先考虑到适合自己的恰当方法以应对以上的精度控制问题。     

Is the membrane voltage amplifier of drone photoreceptors useful at physiological light intensities?

Free-flying drones (Apis mellifera) were attracted by pheromone to an elevated observation site where they looked for small distant objects, a visual task similar to nuptial pursuit. The brightness of the sky against which drones performed this task was measured as the radiance over a range of wavelengths covering the absorbance spectra of the principal drone rhodopsin and its metarhodopsin. This brightness varied relatively little, by just over one log unit. In laboratory experiments on the intact drone, the amplitude of photoreceptor responses to small decrements in intensity showed a marked maximum when the background intensity depolarized the cells to about –35mV. The radiance of this optimal background was only 0.2 log units greater than the sky radiance at which most drones were seen. It is argued that because of probable systematic errors the true difference may be less. It is known that in superfused retinal slices voltage-dependent sodium channels amplify small signals under these stimulus conditions. We therefore conclude that this amplification is useful for the major visual activity of the drone.     

无人机技术在广州南沙区河涌景观特征生态调查中的应用研究进展

在城市化进程逐步加快、社会经济水平趋于高阶的时代,城市生态系统是当前开展交叉学科研究的重要对象,融合了自然科学(如林学、生态学等)和社会科学(如管理学、人文地理学等)领域的思想体系和研究方法。作为一种新兴技术,无人机遥感已在生物学、地理学、信息科学等多个学科领域广泛使用。主要从监测、研究、评估和保护等四个方面简要叙述了无人机技术在林业生态研究和管理中的应用情况,并以广州南沙区河涌景观为例简要分析了无人机技术在珠江三角洲地区城市森林景观中的实际应用。试图为我国城市区域的森林生态、生物多样性与人居环境研究和管理工作提供参考。     

Hot stuff in the bushes: Thermal imagers and the detection of burrows in vegetated sites

1. Thermal imaging technology is a developing field in wildlife management. Most thermal imaging work in wildlife science has been limited to larger ungulates and surface‐dwelling mammals. Little work has been undertaken on the use of thermal imagers to detect fossorial animals and/or their burrows. Survey methods such as white‐light spotlighting can fail to detect the presence of burrows (and therefore the animals within), particularly in areas where vegetation obscures burrows. Thermal imagers offer an opportunity to detect the radiant heat from these burrows, and therefore the presence of the animal, particularly in vegetated areas. Thermal imaging technology has become increasingly available through the provision of smaller, more cost‐effective units. Their integration with drone technology provides opportunities for researchers and land managers to utilize this technology in their research/management practices.
2. We investigated the ability of both consumer (<AUD$20,000) and professional imagers (>AUD$65,000) mounted on drones to detect rabbit burrows (warrens) and entrances in the landscape as compared to visual assessment.
3. Thermal imagery and visual inspection detected active rabbit warrens when vegetation was scarce. The presence of vegetation was a significant factor in detecting entrances (p < .001, α = 0.05). The consumer imager did not detect as many warren entrances as either the professional imager or visual inspection (p = .009, α = 0.05). Active warren entrances obscured by vegetation could not be accurately identified on exported imagery from the consumer imager and several false‐positive detections occurred when reviewing this footage.
4. We suggest that the exportable frame rate (Hz) was the key factor in image quality and subsequent false‐positive detections. This feature should be considered when selecting imagers and suggest that a minimum export rate of 30 Hz is required. Thermal imagers are a useful additional tool to aid in identification of entrances for active warrens and professional imagers detected more warrens and entrances than either consumer imagers or visual inspection.

     

Effects of reproductive timing and colony size on the survival, offspring colony size and drone production in the honey bee (Apis mellifera)

ABSTRACT. 1. The effects of colony size and time of reproduction on the survival and size of offspring colonies and on drone production were examined for honey bees, Apis mellifera L. Drone and worker production and survival of parental and offspring colonies were monitored following swarming. Also, the temporal patterns of drone emergence and availability of unmated queens were examined.
2. Colony size at swarming was positively correlated with the number of workers invested in offspring colonies and the number of queens produced. However, colony size at swarming was not correlated with the number of offspring colonies produced.
3. Swarm size was positively correlated with drone and worker production after swarms were hived. Worker production of hived swarms was positively correlated with colony survival. Offspring queens which inherited a parental nest survived longer than queens in either primary swarms or afterswarms, presumably due to the advantage of inheriting a nest.
4. Drone emergence peaked just prior to swarming, the time when unmated queens were available. High drone production by colonies initiated by swarms probably reflected an attempt to reproduce prior to winter. The probabilities of a second swarming cycle within the same year and of surviving the winter were low for colonies initiated from swarms.