Researchers, from the Forest Research Institute of ELGO-DIMITRA, will place twenty ground-based acoustic sensors in large Greek forest areas. They will record environmental sounds either continuously or at predetermined intervals, storing them digitally on SD cards, on trees in an area within the Rodopi National Park. The action is part of a wider research program, “Application of Ground-Based Optical and Acoustic Sensors in Protected Areas of Greece,” that is part of an alliance between businesses and research organisations in Greece.
Dr Christos Astaras, the scientific manager of the relevant project action, explained to APE-MPA. “Essentially everything a human ear hears will be recorded.”
Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM)
“Our goal is to assess human activity in the area. So, in addition to shooting, other activities are detectable, such as logging. Another example is the use of forest roads by cars. The acoustic sensors, whith data collected quarterly, can be an effective and cost-efficient monitoring tool to promote the management of protected areas”, Astaras said. He added in addition. “Ecological studies of bats and birds widely used Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM). Trully unprecedentedIts is its use as a monitoring tool for law enforcement globally. Very have seen few similar applications done in the tropics.”
“We will examine, among other things, how long the batteries of the sensors last and how well they respond to our mountain environment,” Astaras explained. For him, acoustic monitoring can make a substantial contribution to efforts to combat forest crime. They will offer support of forest patrols in the fight against crime.” Unfortunately, they possess incomplete field data and miss a reliable system for evaluating their effectiveness. This is a troubling matter, since a significant proportion of resources is invested. By that we mean, resources, both human and financial.”
“Using sound detection algorithms, they extract incidents of interest from the acoustic recorder data in the Greek forest areas. Some notable sounds are gunshots, chainsaw use, even traffic on forest roads. That is as to create forest crime heatmaps. This information will send priority patrols to these points at a time when the likelihood of detecting offenders is highest. Regularly updated field data will also allow for the evaluation of actions to enable timely adaptation to emerging threats.”
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Author: PC-GR
The World of Technology
