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Implementation and Accuracy of Thermal and Radar Technology for Animal Detection Systems

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  • Implementation and Accuracy of Thermal and Radar Technology for Animal Detection Systems
Jeff Gagnon, Arizona Game and Fish Department
Tim Hazlehurst, CrossTek LLC
Terrestrial wildlife (vertebrate and/or invertebrate) and ecosystem interactions
Technical Session 20: The Emerging Ecosystem of Animal Detection Systems

Thermal and radar based sensors are not considered new technologies, however their use as an affordable component of wildlife-vehicle collision mitigation techniques is constantly evolving with improvements in sensor technology and software integration. Thermal and radar technology is primarily understood as a method to utilize temperature and speed to detect targets, respectively, however incorporating complex software that can also integrate target size, reflectivity, direction of travel, and other important aspects that differentiate a target from its surroundings makes these technologies suitable for wildlife identification in Animal Detection Systems (ADS). We will show how thermal and radar based systems and their integrated software work, identify appropriate settings for each technology, review effective engineering design processes to insure success and provide real-world examples of ADS implementation using these technologies and their associated accuracy in Arizona and British Columbia.

wildlife-vehicle animal detection technology

Header image courtesy of Martin Gradjean -- Air Traffic Network

ICOET 2025 — International Conference On Ecology and Transportation