With the help of computer scientists from the University of Hamburg, the Institute for Applied Ecosystem Research GmbH (IfAÖ) aims to make image analysis 50 times faster.
In order to obtain approval for the construction of offshore wind turbines, the impact of the turbines on seabirds and harbour porpoises, for example, must be investigated. The Institut für Angewandte Ökosystemforschung GmbH (IfAÖ), a private research organisation, uses aerial photographs and video recordings to take an inventory of sea animals.
IKS Hamburg has brought the company together with HITeC (Hamburg Informatics Technology-Center) in order to analyse the material around 50 times faster. As part of the Intelligent Sea Animal Detection (ISEAD) project, computer scientists from the University of Hamburg are helping IfAÖ to analyse the data collected using their own digital aerial imaging systems.
During one flight alone, around four terabytes of image and video material are recorded. Normally, the huge amount of data is analysed by humans in a two-step process and the animals are identified.
‘I am very satisfied with the progress of the project,’ says project manager Dr. André Woiterski of the IfAÖ. Among other things, we have achieved an analysis time of less than five seconds per image. This allows us to analyse up to 200,000 individual images from video sequences for one flight, which greatly simplifies project processing and saves costs.’
At the end of the project, the models will also be made available as open source code.
The collaborative project is being funded with 300,000 € from the PROFI funding programme of Hamburgische Investitions- und Förderbank (Hamburg Investment and Development Bank IFB). The advantage is that the company bears part of the project costs itself, while the scientists’ work is paid for by public funds.