Automatic detection of birds in images acquired with remotely piloted aircraft for managing wildlife strikes to civil aircraft

Authors

Maurycio Rodrigues Oviedo, Federal University of UberlandiaFollow
Flavio A. C. Mendonca Ph.D., Embry-Riddle Aeronautical UniversityFollow
Jose Cabrera, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical UniversityFollow
Cole A. McNall, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical UniversityFollow
Raymond Ayres, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical UniversityFollow
Ricardo Luís Barbosa, Federal University of UberlandiaFollow
Rodrigo Gallis, Federal University of UberlandiaFollow

Abstract

Wildlife strikes represent a significant threat to aviation safety and economics, as evidenced by notable incidents such as the emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in 2009. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) acknowledges this growing concern, as evidenced by its report on Wildlife Strikes to Civil Aircraft in the United States from 1990 to 2019.To address the need for improved risk management, airports conduct Wildlife Hazard Assessments (WHA), a laborious process typically relying on visual identification by Qualified Airport Wildlife Biologists (QAWB). However, technological advancements, such as Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) and machine learning (ML), offer promising solutions to enhance WHA efficiency. The latest model, YOLOv8, achieved a training accuracy of 81% in bird detection precision, and field testing yielded a 69.77% success rate.

Scholarly Commons Citation

Oviedo, M. R., Mendonca, F. A., Cabrera, J., McNall, C. A., Ayres, R., Barbosa, R. L., & Gallis, R. (2024). Automatic detection of birds in images acquired with remotely piloted aircraft for managing wildlife strikes to civil aircraft. International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace, 11(4). DOI: https://doi.org/10.58940/2374-6793.1912