Wild animal morphological index measuring method

Abstract

The invention provides a method for measuring morphological indexes of wild animals, and relates to the technical field of wild animal protection. The method comprises the following steps: step 1, preparing a weaving grid; 2, determining a first area where wild animals often appear and disappear; thirdly, the woven grids are vertically laid in the first area; 4, arranging an infrared camera in the second area, and enabling the infrared camera to directly face the weaving grid in the first area; step 5, opening a wild animal picture obtained by the infrared camera through Image J; and step 6, obtaining morphological parameters of the wild animals. On the whole, the measurement efficiency, the convenience level and the accuracy of an identification result can be remarkably improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of wildlife protection, and in particular to a method for measuring morphological indicators of wild animals. Background Art

[0002] Traditional animal morphological indicators require on-site comparison and reading of relevant morphological data of samples through measuring tools (measurement rulers, measuring ropes, etc.). Most measurements are made on dead individual samples that have already been obtained. For living animal samples, the animals need to be fixed in iron cages, traps and other facilities to ensure that the animals do not deform and do not cause harm to humans. Traditional methods are extremely labor-intensive and require the assistance of multiple people to complete. They are time-consuming, material-intensive, and labor-intensive, and the accuracy of the data is affected.

[0003] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a method to measure wildlife morphological indicators that can significantly improve measurement efficiency, convenience and accuracy of identification results. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for measuring morphological indicators of wild animals, which solves the technical problems in the prior art that the work intensity is extremely high, multiple people are required to assist in completion, and the accuracy of the data is affected. The preferred technical solutions among the many technical solutions provided by the present invention can produce many technical effects as described below.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions: The present invention provides a method for measuring morphological indicators of wild animals, comprising the following steps: Step 1: Prepare the weaving grid; Step 2: Identify the first area where wild animals often appear; Step 3: vertically laying the woven grid in the first area; Step 4: Arrange an infrared camera in the second area so that the infrared camera faces the woven grid in the first area; Step 5: Open the wild animal pictures acquired by the infrared camera through Image J; Step 6: Obtain morphological parameters of wild animals.

[0006] Preferably, in step 1, the length and width of the woven grid are at least 20m, the length and width of each grid on the woven grid are at least 20cm-50cm, and the diameter of the rope in the woven grid is 3mm-5mm.

[0007] Preferably, the colors of all the grids in the vertical or horizontal direction are staggered.

[0008] Preferably, in step three, the edges of the woven mesh are fixed within the first area by stakes.

[0009] Preferably, in step 4, the height and distance of the infrared camera relative to the woven grid are determined according to the type of animal photographed.

[0010] Preferably, in step five, the background picture in the wild animal picture is used as a basis, that is, the spatial positions of the same two points in the wild animal picture are located according to the spatial positions between two points of unit length in the background picture, and then the distance between the two points is used as a parameter for setting the length scale of the wild animal picture.

[0011] Preferably, in step six, the morphological parameters are animal height, body length, eye distance and ear distance.

[0012] Preferably, in step four, a third area is established, the third area and the second area are symmetrically arranged about the woven grid, a second infrared camera is arranged in the third area, and the two groups of infrared cameras are arranged relatively.

[0013] Preferably, in the step four, a horizontal coordinate system is established, and the first area, the second area and the third area are arranged at designated positions in the horizontal coordinate system.

[0014] Preferably, in step four, an animal sound generator is installed in the first area.

[0015] In the technical solution provided by the present invention, a woven grid and an infrared camera are set in places where wild animals often appear, wherein the main function of the woven grid is to serve as a scale for measuring animal morphological parameters, and the wild animals, the woven grid and the surrounding environment are photographed by an infrared camera, and the actual length of the wild animal morphological index can be obtained according to the definition of the animal morphological index according to the method of automatically or manually measuring the image length using Image J; on this basis, the quantified morphological index length can be used to accurately identify whether the wild animals photographed in the same area are the same individual. Overall, the present application can significantly improve the measurement efficiency, convenience level and accuracy of the recognition results. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0017] Figure 1This is a schematic diagram of the main viewing direction of the woven grid of the present invention; Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the woven grid of the present invention and the left viewing direction of the infrared camera.

[0018] In the figure, 1-woven mesh; 2-infrared camera. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] To make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present invention clearer, the technical solution of the present invention will be described in detail below. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other implementation methods obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0020] refer to Figure 1-2 A specific embodiment of the present invention provides a method for measuring morphological indicators of wild animals, comprising the following steps: Step 1: Prepare the weaving grid 1; Step 2: Identify the first area where wild animals often appear; Step 3: vertically lay the woven mesh 1 in the first area; Step 4: Arrange the infrared camera 2 in the second area so that the infrared camera 2 faces the woven mesh 1 in the first area; Step 5: Use Image J to open the wildlife images obtained by infrared camera 2; Step 6: Obtain morphological parameters of wild animals.

[0021] Traditional animal morphological indicators need to be compared and read on-site by measuring tools (measurement ruler, measurement rope, etc.), and most of the measurements are for dead individual samples that have been obtained; for live animal samples, the animals need to be fixed by iron cages, traps and other facilities, and can only be carried out when the animals are not deformed and do not cause harm to people; the traditional method is extremely labor-intensive and requires the assistance of multiple people to complete, which is time-consuming, material-consuming, and labor-consuming, and the accuracy of the data is affected. In this application, a woven grid 1 and an infrared camera 2 are set in places where wild animals often appear, wherein the main function of the woven grid 1 is to serve as a ruler for measuring animal morphological parameters, and the wild animals, the woven grid 1 and the surrounding environment are photographed by the infrared camera 2. According to the method of automatically or manually measuring the length of the image by Image J, the actual length of the wild animal morphological indicator can be obtained according to the definition of the animal morphological indicator; on this basis, according to the quantified morphological indicator length, it is possible to accurately identify whether the wild animals photographed in the same area are the same individual. On the whole, this application can significantly improve the measurement efficiency, convenience level and accuracy of the recognition results.

[0022] Further optimizing the scheme, in step one, the length and width of the woven mesh 1 are at least 20m, the length and width of each mesh on the woven mesh 1 are at least 20cm-50cm, and the diameter of the rope in the woven mesh 1 is 3mm-5mm.

[0023] The woven grid 1 is a grid woven by thin ropes, each grid is of standard size, and the thin ropes in the woven grid 1 are all inelastic; wherein the colors of all the grids in the longitudinal or transverse direction are staggered, so as to facilitate accurate identification of the unit length in the photo, as well as the ground cover of the environment where the grid is laid.

[0024] To further optimize the solution, in step three, the edge of the woven mesh 1 is fixed in the first area by wooden stakes.

[0025] When fixing the woven mesh 1, the stakes and the woven mesh 1 should not overlap. After the woven mesh 1 is laid out, take a picture covering most of the woven mesh 1 along the shooting direction at the infrared camera 2 as the basis for setting the length scale and background picture required to measure the morphological indexes such as body length and height of the animal picture; you can also leave the woven mesh 1 at the shooting site and use the camera to shoot animal pictures with a thin rope mesh background. In addition, it should be noted that the shooting time setting requires that the ground cover is as free of interference such as snow as possible, and the environmental conditions of the shooting point can be clearly identified.

[0026] To further optimize the solution, in step 4, the height and distance of the infrared camera 2 relative to the woven grid 1 are determined according to the type of animal being photographed.

[0027] When laying the woven mesh 1 in the wild, it is necessary to determine the shooting range of the infrared camera 2, i.e., the field of view, according to the shooting direction of the infrared camera 2 and the type of animals to be mainly photographed. Generally, the shooting range of large animals is larger. Then, the woven mesh 1 is laid and fixed within the field of view, so that the woven mesh 1 covers the shooting field of view as much as possible. According to the type of animals to be photographed, smaller animals are suitable for smaller woven meshes 1, including the diameter of each mesh and rope; larger animals are suitable for larger woven meshes 1.

[0028] To further optimize the solution, in step five, the background image in the wildlife image is used as a basis, that is, the spatial positions of the same two points in the wildlife image are located according to the spatial positions between two points of unit length in the background image, and then the distance between the two points is used as the parameter for setting the length scale of the wildlife image.

[0029] When measuring, open the picture of the animal to be measured through Image J (image processing software), complete the grayscale and format processing of the image as required, and open the background picture with the woven grid 1 at the same time; compare the environment of the animal position in the animal picture with the spatial position in the background picture, and use the environmental ground cover and unit length of the thin rope on the side of the standard small grid closest to the animal in the background picture as the basis for setting the Image J measurement scale, that is, locate the spatial position of the same two points in the animal picture according to the spatial position between the two points of unit length in the background picture, and then use the distance between the two points as the parameter for setting the length scale of the animal picture (Set scale).

[0030] To further optimize the scheme, in step six, the morphological parameters include but are not limited to animal height, body length, eye distance and ear distance.

[0031] To further optimize the solution, in step four, a third area is established, the third area and the second area are symmetrically arranged about the woven mesh 1, a second infrared camera 2 is arranged in the third area, and two groups of infrared cameras 2 are arranged opposite to each other.

[0032] By using two infrared cameras 2 arranged relatively to each other, more accurate parameters can be determined based on pictures taken at different positions, thereby reducing measurement errors as much as possible.

[0033] To further optimize the solution, in step 4, a horizontal coordinate system is established, and the first area, the second area, and the third area are arranged at designated positions in the horizontal coordinate system.

[0034] The main function of the horizontal coordinate system is to more accurately calculate the location of the animal based on the positions of the infrared camera 2 and the woven grid 1, thereby facilitating spatial position comparison.

[0035] To further optimize the solution, in step four, an animal sound generator is installed in the first area.

[0036] Animal sound generators can attract wild animals. The timing of using animal sound generators is not random, but needs to be determined according to the data collection situation and must not affect the survival of wild animals.

[0037] The traditional method is extremely labor-intensive and requires the assistance of multiple people to complete. It is time-consuming, material-consuming, and labor-intensive. For example, it takes at least 10 people and several days to fix a wild boar, which makes it almost impossible to obtain morphological data of live animals in the wild. The existing morphological data are all obtained from specimens or animals, and rarely from the field. The huge manpower and time costs make direct acquisition methods almost unfeasible; at the same time, animals will deform after death, and their body length and height will change. The morphological indicators obtained from specimens are also different from the actual values, which affects the accuracy of the data; in addition, it affects the safety of both animals and humans. Traditional methods require contact with animal entities and specimens. There are safety risks to both animals and humans during the process of fixing animals. Direct contact with animal specimens also requires prevention and control of the risk of infection from drugs and pathogens. In summary, traditional measurement methods rely on manual labor, are labor-intensive and costly, have high safety risks, and are limited in applicable scenarios. The process of obtaining data is complex and difficult, and the scale and quality of the data obtained are also low, which also affects the accuracy of the recognition results.

[0038] The present invention is an intelligent measurement method for morphological indicators of wild animals based on images and an individual recognition technology based on this method. It is mainly aimed at the current wildlife monitoring in my country's protected areas by deploying infrared cameras 2. The infrared cameras 2 take a large number of wild animal images. This technology is used to measure the morphological parameters of the photographed animals, such as body length, height, tail length, etc., so as to individually identify the photographed animals. This method is used in conjunction with methods that can capture animal images, such as infrared cameras 2, and uses the image length measurement function in the mature image measurement software Image J to obtain data on morphological indicators of wild animals (such as height, body length, distance between two eyes, face length, face width, distance between two ears, body pattern size, etc.). It is necessary to set a grid-shaped measuring rope, such as a woven grid 1 (with a ruler unit length of 50 cm and a line length of about 20 meters) between the position where the animal passes the lens most frequently and the infrared camera 2 within the fixed shooting field of view of the infrared camera 2, and take photos of the measuring woven grid 1 as standard scale background photos at different distances from the infrared camera 2. Then, the photos of wild animals automatically taken by the infrared camera 2 are compared with the background photos to determine the position of the animal photos on the background photos. The space and unit length closest to the animal in the background picture are used as the ruler setting parameters (Set scale) of the infrared camera 2 photo image required to measure the animal in Image J. Then, according to the method of automatically or manually measuring the image length by Image J, the actual length of the morphological indicators of wild animals can be obtained according to the definition of the animal morphological indicators. On this basis, according to the quantified morphological indicator length, it is possible to accurately identify whether the wild animals photographed in the same area are the same individual.

[0039] It should be noted that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", etc. used herein to indicate the orientation or position relationship is based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the drawings, and is only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operate in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application. In addition, the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. are used for descriptive purposes only and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0040] In the description of this article, it is also necessary to explain that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in this application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0041] The above is only a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention, which should be included in the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for measuring morphological indicators of wild animals, characterized in that: The steps include: Step 1: Prepare the weaving grid (1); Step 2: Identify the first area where wild animals often appear; Step 3: vertically laying the woven grid (1) in the first area; Step 4: Arranging an infrared camera (2) in the second area so that the infrared camera (2) faces the woven mesh (1) in the first area; Step 5: Use Image J to open the wild animal picture acquired by the infrared camera (2); Step 6: Obtain morphological parameters of wild animals.

2. The method for measuring wild animal morphological indicators according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step 1, the length and width of the woven mesh (1) are at least 20m, the length and width of each mesh on the woven mesh (1) are at least 20cm-50cm, and the diameter of the rope in the woven mesh (1) is 3mm-5mm.

3. The method for measuring wild animal morphological indicators according to claim 2, characterized in that: The colors of all the grids are staggered vertically or horizontally.

4. The method for measuring morphological indicators of wild animals according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the step three, the edge of the woven mesh (1) is fixed within the first area by means of wooden stakes.

5. The method for measuring morphological indicators of wild animals according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the step 4, the height and distance of the infrared camera (2) relative to the woven grid (1) are determined according to the type of animal being photographed.

6. The method for measuring morphological indicators of wild animals according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step five, the background image in the wildlife image is used as a basis, that is, the spatial positions of the same two points in the wildlife image are located according to the spatial positions between two points of unit length in the background image, and then the distance between the two points is used as a parameter for setting the length scale of the wildlife image.

7. The method for measuring morphological indicators of wild animals according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step six, the morphological parameters are animal height, body length, eye distance and ear distance.

8. The method for measuring wild animal morphological indicators according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the step 4, a third area is set up, the third area and the second area are symmetrically arranged with respect to the woven grid (1), a second infrared camera (2) is arranged in the third area, and two groups of the arranged infrared cameras (2) are arranged relative to each other.

9. The method for measuring morphological indicators of wild animals according to claim 8, characterized in that: In the step 4, a horizontal coordinate system is established, and the first area, the second area, and the third area are arranged at designated positions in the horizontal coordinate system.

10. The method for measuring morphological indicators of wild animals according to claim 9, characterized in that: In the step 4, an animal sound generator is installed in the first area.

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