Scientists Use Satellite Imagery To Count Elephants (interestingengineering.com) 33
Scientists from a trio of universities have combined satellite imagery with deep learning to detect elephants from space. The goal is to help protect these endangered species from poachers or habitat destruction. Their study was published in the journal Ecology and Conservation. Interesting Engineering reports: The team's method proved comparable to human detection accuracy and could help solve a number of existing challenges, such as cross-border limits, and cloud coverage, among others. The team used Maxar WorldView-3 satellite imagery, which is capable of collecting more than one million acres (5,000 km2) imagery in one go in just a few minutes. This allows for fast repeat imaging when necessary, and minimizes the risk of double counting as it's so rapid.
Then the team leveraged deep learning to process the vast amount of imagery it collected from Maxar's WorldView-3 satellite. In a matter of hours, the team collected its relevant data. This process usually takes months when sorting out by hand. On top of speed, the deep learning algorithms also provided consistent results less prone to error, as well as false negatives and false positives. In order to develop this method, the team created a customized training dataset of over 1,000 elephants, and then fed it into a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). After trials, the team concluded that its CNN can detect elephants in satellite imagery with as high an accuracy as human detection capabilities.
Then the team leveraged deep learning to process the vast amount of imagery it collected from Maxar's WorldView-3 satellite. In a matter of hours, the team collected its relevant data. This process usually takes months when sorting out by hand. On top of speed, the deep learning algorithms also provided consistent results less prone to error, as well as false negatives and false positives. In order to develop this method, the team created a customized training dataset of over 1,000 elephants, and then fed it into a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). After trials, the team concluded that its CNN can detect elephants in satellite imagery with as high an accuracy as human detection capabilities.
So (Score:2)
How many elephants are there?
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How many elephants are there?
How many would you like there to be? [wikipedia.org]
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As many as possible
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They don't know, they keep falling asleep.
Have you tried checking your butter? They might be in your fridge.
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Better question, how do the statalites detect the elephants in peoples fridges and the ones driving minis?
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a matter of resolution (Score:2)
Hooray more surveillance on the way. (Score:2)
Why even bother inventing new headlines?
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Why are you bothered about more surveillance? Everybody knows, you're hiding the elephant in the room.
Re: Opportunity (Score:2)
Russian blow-up elephants!
I once shot a satellite image of an elephant... (Score:2)
Re: I once shot a satellite image of an elephant.. (Score:2)
[Concerned PSA announcer voice]
Are you sure you know where your penis was last night?
Next they will have the elephants (Score:2)
Elephants so big ... (Score:2)
... you can see them from space!
Elephant insults (Score:5, Funny)
Your butt so big we can see it from space!
Detecting fakes? (Score:2)
I haven't read the article, but I assume this part of a belt-and-suspenders approach to elephant population tracking. I don't know how much elephant parts and ivory go for on the open market, but what if I set up some top-down elephant silhouettes in the conservation area to make it appear the elephant population was stable even I were killing elephants. I don't know if humans would be able to detect the fake silhouettes either. Do they get some side images so they can at least assert all of their elepha
Sheep (Score:5, Funny)
They tried to get the satellites to count sheep but they kept going into standby mode.
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They tried to get the satellites to count sheep but they kept going into standby mode.
My Android phone counts electric sheep.
The only elephant that matters... (Score:5, Funny)
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"And the elephant in the room is: Africa's human population is projected to nearly triple"
No, it's not.
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interesting data:
In 1950, Africa had 227 million people, 9% of the global population.
By 2050 it will be 2.5 billion, with around 60 million births per year, while the rest of the world will be stable.
Sub-Saharan Africa is already dependent of ten of billion of dollars of food imports annually.
This will not end well.
Misread titles (Score:2)
I Scientists use Satellites to count imaginary elephants
When you have to read things twice, is when you realize speed reading classes will pay off. Eventually.
Stop this horrible totalitarian surveillance! (Score:3)
Americans should be free to go anywhere they like, without being traced!!
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They are everywhere! There was one in my fridge this morning and it left footprints in the butter.
It can't track (Score:2)
Only count. Actually, elephants may be big enough to track with a satellite, but humans aren't. A 5 cm theoretical resolution just won't cut it.
Re: It can't track (Score:2)
So they can trace your mom just fine! :D
Given that she's been dead for 40 years (Score:2)
Mom should be pretty easy to track.
Satellite data feed... (Score:2)
Two ah ah ah
So Confused (Score:2)
My first glance at this headline informed me it was eggplants being counted. The truth is much more cool.