LunAero: Automated “smart” hardware for recording video of nocturnal migration

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dc.contributor.authorHoneycutt, Wesley T.
dc.contributor.authorHeaston, Alyse V.
dc.contributor.authorKelly, Jeffrey F.
dc.contributor.authorBridge, Eli S.
dc.date.accessioned2020-05-21T01:03:25Z
dc.date.available2020-05-21T01:03:25Z
dc.date.issued2020-03-18
dc.description.abstractMoon watching is a method of quantifying nocturnal bird migration by focusing a telescope on the moon and recording observations of flying birds silhouetted against the lunar surface. Although simple and well-established, researchers use moon watching infrequently due in part to the hours of late night observation it requires. To reduce the labor entailed in moon watching, we designed a low-cost system called LunAero that can track and record video of the moon at night. Here we present a proof-of-concept prototype that can serve as a platform for citizen scientists interested in observing nocturnal bird migration. We tested the video recording on clear nights from February 2018 to May 2019 when the moon was full or nearly full. Manual analysis of a 1.5 h sample of video revealed a total of 450 birds, which is a much higher detection rate than previous moon watching efforts have yielded. The hardware described here is part of a larger effort involving software development (currently underway) to automate recorded video analysis. We argue that LunAero can reduce the labor involved in moon watching, offer improved data quality over traditional moon watching, and provide insights into social behavior and wind-drift compensation in migrating birds.en_US
dc.description.peerreviewYesen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThe authors would like to acknowledge funding from the University of Oklahoma’s Strategic Organization in Applied Aeroecology and donors from the LunAero crowdfunding campaign. Open Access fees paid for in whole or in part by the University of Oklahoma Libraries.en_US
dc.identifier.citationHoneycutt, Wesley T.; Heaston, Alyse V. ; Kelly, Jeffrey F.; Bridge, Eli S. 2020. LunAero: Automated “smart” hardware for recording video of nocturnal migration, HardwareX, 7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2020.e00106.en_US
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.ohx.2020.e00106en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/11244/324428
dc.languageen_USen_US
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/*
dc.subjectNocturnalen_US
dc.subjectMigrationen_US
dc.subjectOrnithologyen_US
dc.subjectResearch techniquesen_US
dc.subjectAeroecologyen_US
dc.subjectMoonen_US
dc.subjectHardwareen_US
dc.titleLunAero: Automated “smart” hardware for recording video of nocturnal migrationen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
ou.groupCollege of Arts and Sciences::Department of Biologyen_US

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