Predictive GIS mapping and UAV search applied to stop poaching.
Click for Air Shepherd article in KurzweilAI.
And when the poachers know you are searching, you enter the realm of Search Game Theory.
Category: Links
Coast Guard investigating ground IR detectors for ice rescue
Do you happen to have an infrared WiSAR detector for cold weather?
USCG wants a portable infrared WiSAR detector. This RFI was posted on 2-OCT:
The Coast Guard Research and Development Center (RDC) is conducting market research to identify technologies that are suitable for conducting IR searches on foot for persons on frozen waterways. The parameters include detection capabilities of one mile, and recognition capabilities at one-half mile, and identification at approximately one-quarter mile by personnel on foot (monopod is possible). The parameters also include the need to function in extremely cold temperatures, be temporarily submersible, and function regardless of weather conditions or the time of day/night for IR detection.
The odds, continually updated (NYT)
The odds continually updated: This article on Bayes & search theory made it to the top of the NYT "most emailed" list last night.
The nonsense math effect
An abstract just crossed my desk that I'd love to share. Briefly, adding meaningless math to your academic paper inordinately impresses humanities PhDs. The author does not say whether this also works in pickup lines, so there's room for follow-on research.
Paul Doherty's Research Page
Links to Paul Doherty's new research page. Elena Sava has been testing a simple watershed model that Paul helped develop: it scores about 0.55. Considering the simplicity, that's pretty good.
Just a quick note to highlight Paul Doherty's new research page. It includes:
- Overview of his research
- Publications list
- Software & Datasets page, including links to MapSAR and discussion groups.
- Linkspage with a SAR & GIS bibliography including the memorably titled
- Heggie, Travis W, and Michael E Amundson. 2009. “Dead Men Walking: Search and Rescue in US National Parks.” Wilderness & Environmental Medicine.
- And the humorously mangled: Is, Information, Releasable To, and Foreign Nationals. “Search and Rescue Optimal Planning System ( SAROPS ).” Training 2.
- And three articles it sounds like I should read soon:
- Jobe, T.R., and P.S. White. 2009. “A New Cost-distance Model for Human Accessibility and an Evaluation of Accessibility Bias in Permanent Vegetation Plots in Great Smoky Mountains National Park , USA.” Journal of Vegetation Science: 1099–1109.
- Miller, Harvey J., and Scott a. Bridwell. 2009. “A Field-Based Theory for Time Geography.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 99 (1) (January 8): 49–75. link
- Pingel, Thomas J. 2011. “Estimating an Empirical Hiking Function from GPS Data.” Sports Medicine: 1–3.
At Mason we're collaborating with Paul to test a Watershed-Distance model developed by his research group. Based on 58 tests run so far by Elena Sava on MapScore, this simple model scores 0.55. Not bad for a model that doesn't yet discriminate by category (or any other feature). Elena just finished a multivariate model combining Watersheds with the more usual crows'-flight distance, and we will begin testing that soon.