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Want to talk about sensors that don't quite fit into any of our tech-specific groups? This is the place to post! From temperature and humidity to airflow and pressure sensors, there are many environmental sensing tools that can add valuable data to core conservation monitoring technologies. With the increasing availability of low-cost, open-source options, we've seen growing interest in integrating these kinds of low bandwidth sensors into existing tools. What kinds of sensors are you working with?

discussion

Mangrove soundscape

Hello everyone, I am currently working on the restoration of mangroves in an area of Colombia. I want to do an acoustic monitoring inside the mangrove. I want to record...

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You might check out the devices listed in the Conservation Tech Directory - you can search for 'acoustic recorder' or 'ARU' or something like that.

The most common off-the-shelf models (other than Frontier Labs' BARLTs mentioned above😊) are Open Acoustic Devices Audiomoths & Hydromoths (which may be particularly useful for you since they come in completely watertight cases that can be stuck underwater for deployments), Wildlife Acoustics' SongMeter series, and Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Swift units.  

 

Camilo--

Are you interested only in airborne sounds or do you want to deploy hydrophones? That decision would inform a lot of other decisions about your purchase of equipment, as would having a clearer picture of your budget.

Hi there Camilo, 

What an interesting project! If you are looking for a lower cost, but effective tools for acoustic monitoring you might want to look into two options: 

SoundTraps - are very commonly used and perform quite well: 

SonarPoints - these are also a great instrument option: 

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discussion

Avian nest box monitoring 

Hi. I’m hoping there’s a guru out there who can advise on tech for monitoring conditions inside avian nest boxes? Links to data loggers and endoscopes they’ve used successfully...

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Maybe this is a starting point. Any idea if this product would work inside the box. Kestrel DROP D3 Wireless Temperature, Humidity & Pressure Data Logger https://amzn.eu/d/5VdQwtA  

I'd be interested in any camera monitoring setups that can be used inside a nest box. Most camera traps are too bulky for this purpose. All the devices I've looked at either need a wired connection or a wifi network to transmit images. I want one that can store all info to an SD card and preferably be solar powered. Obviously infrared or starlight sensitivity. Sound recording would be a bonus for some bird monitoring I want to do.

Done lots of this over the years and it depends on the species really. If you want incubation behaviour  and hence success or otherwise using temperature then the Thermocron IButton DS1921G is perfect. The new Blue Maestro is an option I became aware of this year but I haven't tested at scale.

In terms of cameras and endoscopes I've tailored many off the shelf products and built a few from scratch. When I get chance I'll have a look around and see what is still available.

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discussion

Virtual fencing / Kinetic energy harvesting / Holistic grazing

Hi everyone, Stephanie invited me to share some recent developments in Finalnd.I'm David and I'm a mechanical engineer from Rijeka, Croatia, working as a Marie Curie postdoc at...

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I see, thanks!

One daily fix is quite limiting.

Do you have an idea how KEH might affect accelerometry?

Cheers,

I don't think KEH would influence accelerometry at all.

One other way to think about it is - the KEH is a movement sensor itself.

The GPS is quite a severe factor in the energy balance of the system, so if the data is perhaps not transmitted constantly, more frequent locks could be achieved. I believe GPS transceivers are becoming more and more efficient and the KEH enabled GPS should become an option soon.

 

Kr,

D-

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careers

Conservation Technology Research Internship

Boost cons tech capacity at an international NGO! Fauna & Flora International is offering a paid three-month internship to consolidate and share best practices for the application of emerging hardware and software...

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article

Ceres Wild Rhino application 

An update on Ceres Tags products that are being used in conservation 

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Some updates and a news report on the Malilangwe Trust application of devices; Ceres Trace and Ceres Wild
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article

CERES TAG

Ceres Tag sends just in time alerts and GPS location to have the power to track and trace.

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discussion

The battery challenge - how to reduce battery waste

Hi everyone, So much great stuff is being developed here! Currently, the use of technology in conservation has become quite normal. We are all familiar with camera traps and...

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Realizing I'm hopping onto this thread late, but I think one of the easiest ways to handle batteries is simply to work to minimize energy consumption--identify areas where we can improve deployment duration while generating comparable ecological knowledge. For example, in the case of the acoustic sensors I work with, can we reduce sample rates and still pick up our species of interest? Can we use a sparser duty cycle while still generating sufficient information to answer whatever our relevant questions are?

So-called "Li-Ion AA" batteries are a potential alternative to NiMH for applications requiring AA form-factor batteries.  These "batteries" contain internal power converter to go from Li-Ion cell voltage (3.7V) to AA standard 1.5 Volt.  Based on lab (not field) experiments, they perform better than NiMH over temperature, and have a longer lifetime,  though they are more expensive.  I suspect they have the same (eventual) disposal issues.   

On the topic of potential sources for harvested power, and in the category of "out there"...   I have spent some considerable (likely too much) time exploring harvesting power from diurnal temperature variation using thermal reservoir(s) and thermo-electric generator(s).  The physics is not too bad, but the engineering is a bear.    Project currently on hold, but if someone is interested, happy to discuss. 

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article

Fast Company Feature: Smart Parks

“It’s such a massive leap forwards knowing where every rhino is every morning and every evening.” Fast Company writes about Smart Parks, a Netherlands-based organization with technological solutions against poaching.

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discussion

A Triphibian Surveillance Vehicle

Hey all!I am Ayush, a core team member of my school's Robotics Club (Center For Innovation, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras). There is one project - The Triphibian - we are...

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discussion

Nutrient sensors - affordable, user-friendly, effective - do they exist?

Hi all, at the Kelp Forest Foundation we are researching the ecosystem services of cultivated giant kelp in and around Kelp Blue's offshore farm in Namibia. We are creating...

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Hi Samantha,

This looks like a really interesting and beneficial project. Wishing you all the best with it.

Are you scouting for sensors that are archival and deployed / recovered over set period of time, or do you need telemetry / daily / hourly data to monitor change from tethered buoys etc? We are working on a similar solution with another partner, although not with microfuid-based sensors, but there are similar barriers regarding cost reduction and data collection.

Kind regards,

Alasdair

It sounds like you're looking for multiparameter probes to deploy in the water to log in situ readings as part of the baseline you want to establish, and you might be deploying BRUVs, doing video transects, or taking soundscapes in addition, if I'm not too far off the mark.

The multiparameter probes will run you around USD10k each, kitted for let's say pH, conductivity, DO, turbidity, nitrate, and temperature.  If you can rent these probes and the manpower to run them, that may be the best option if local expertise is lacking, as there are subtle gotchas.   You might want to look into an automatic winched system which raises and lowers the probe, so you get readings throughout the whole water column.  This may not be much more expensive than having 3 probes (at surface, bottom, and mid-depth).  Other advantages include reduced biofouling (since the probe parks in air) and potentially reduced maintenance load due to this.  But the disadvantages include fishers tying up to the system and boats colliding with it, and birds pooping on it, all of which have happened to me.

What exact nutrients or parameters are you trying to measure? 

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