Innovation Intelligence Insight

Integrated Thermal & Multispectral Imagery System for BioSecurity Monitoring of Red Imported Fire Ants (RIFA) in South East QLD
presented by

Andrew Coleman
Acknowledgements: Biosecurity Queensland (DEEDI) and University of Sydney

A LITTLE ABOUT US

Global Remote Sensing Solutions Company

4 year Australia-wide growth based on track record We move Cameras not Aircraft Anywhere, Anytime, Imagery When You Need It How? Precision navigated, automated systems High Resolution Multispectral High Resolution Thermal Why?

Quality, affordability, time sensitive

APPLICATIONS

Host of diverse Australian applications:

See stand for details and visit www.outlineglobal.com.au

Forestry
Mining Environmental

Agriculture
Emergency Response

Background to RIFA Remote Sensing Project

Red Imported Fire Ant so what??:

RIFA is a native South American ant species Introduced to South East QLD (Brisbane) in 2001. Possibly brought in by ship. Can be dangerous/lethal to humans and livestock Destroys agricultural lands and pastures Able to spread via flight Easily spread by moving earth and equipment between areas Potential for RIFA to be moved to other towns, cities and/or states ie. potential national biological threat.

Background to RIFA Remote Sensing Project

Red Imported Fire Ant so what??:

In 2001 there were 1000s of nests in the Brisbane area (300 000ha) Today there are only a few hundred known nests in control zone Control zone grows by 10%/annum

One of issues to achieving full eradication is defining the outer extents of the biosecurity control zone: Where might there be viable ant colonies that we have not found yet? How far outside the control zone should we be looking? How will the outer farmland areas be monitored? Manually 1ha/person/day

Initial Trials

Outline were appointed by BSQ in 2008 to research and field test an integrated multispectral + thermal system for use in identifying/mapping RIFA nests from the air:

Utilise existing Outline multispectral camera technology Loosely coupled thermal Fly known infested sites Utilise helicopter platform to allow flying low enough and slow enough to achieve required thermal resolution Identify limitations of system

Proof of Concept Camera System

Outline camera pod incorporating true colour and near infrared sensors aid bearing, GPS-IMU hardware Pilot navigation + military spec offtrack error Thermal camera is attached externally

System control and data storage on ruggedised laptop PC

Initial Trials

Conducted trials simulating high resolution imagery:

flying at 200 to 300ft AGL Small sites of 50 to 100ha Target nest sites visible at simulated resolution of 3 4cm RGB/NIR and 6-8cm thermal Manual rectification and alignment of loosely coupled Thermal images Poor band alignment Low helicopter flying heights (~200ft) Convert to large scale operations data and personnel intensive

Validation

Challenges

New Camera Design

Concept proposed to redesign current system to fully integrate high resolution thermal capability Proposed Specification:
Colour (RGB) 3cm resolution from 500+ft AGL Near Infra-Red (NIR) 3cm resolution from 500+ft AGL Thermal 6cm resolution from 500+ft AGL MS Bands and Thermal Bands co-registered Spatial accuracy <1m Capture 750ha / day Adaptable to helicopter platform

Warm Thermal Legend

Cool

17

Cool

Warm

Hot

NIR Thermal Imagery RGB Imagery

Automated Nest ID: University of Sydney

Apply Machine Learning and Computer Vision Techniques

Supervised classification (Teaching the algorithm)

Possibly use output as input to manual GIS process using human interpreters

Positive Data

Negative Data

RGB

RGB

NIR

NIR

Onward.

Deploy two Outline systems to the RIFA project for the 2012 Brisbane flying season (May to September) Aim to capture, process and deliver approx 75 000ha of 3cm RGB/NIR and 6cm thermal imagery per camera over 6 months.

Onward.

Explore alternative applications of the technology:

Post-fire scar and remnant fire hotspot mapping Irrigation monitoring Urban heat / insulation mapping Ferrel animal (kangaroos, pigs, camels) surveys

End
Questions?