Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Tuesday 21 May 2019
States turn to drones to predict avalanches, spot wildlife

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST state's transportation de-
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — In partment.
Utah, drones are hovering People used to fan out in
near avalanches to watch helicopters or all-terrain
roaring snow. In North Car- vehicles to check for evi-
olina, they're searching for dence of the protected
the nests of endangered birds before building new
birds. In Kansas, they could projects, but the drones
soon be identifying sick can do the job quicker with
cows through heat signa- less disruption, Yap said.
tures. "There's little to no noise
Public transportation agen- compared to a helicopter,"
cies are using drones in he said.
nearly every state, accord- They're also used to check
ing to a new survey by the for protected bats nest-
American Association of ing under bridges and to
State Highway and Trans- spray herbicide on invasive
portation Officials. The re- plants near shorelines.
port released Monday finds North Carolina is one of
a sharp increase in their three states working with
use over the last few years, Travis White, Utah Department of Transportation, Highway Incident Management Team, holds their the Federal Aviation Ad-
showing that governments drone at a drone demo Monday, May 20, 2019, in Park City, Utah. ministration to test drones
as well as hobbyists have Associated Press beyond the operator's line
rapidly adopted the tech- of sight, at night and over
nology. identify potential potholes airports or those fighting and water runoff as the people. The FAA does not
In 2016, the nonprofit group before they're visible to the wildfires. snow melts," Esselman said. usually allow those uses
found no state transpor- human eye. But they can be useful for "Drones are a perfect tool without a special waiver.
tation agency was using "You've seen the cost of work that's dangerous for for any job that is danger- Also part of the program
drones every day. Now, 36 drones come down signifi- people. In Utah, drones re- ous or dirty." is Kansas, where workers
states have certified drone cantly, and the capabilities cord from the air as state When a mudslide cut off are using drones to create
pilots on staff. When the sur- that come along with some workers set off planned access to a city about two sophisticated farming pro-
vey was done this month, drones increase significant- avalanches, allowing them years ago, Idaho sent a grams and monitor cattle
all but one state was using ly as well," said the group's to watch the slides close drone up to pinpoint the heat signatures to prevent
drones in some way. Since executive director, Jim Ty- up in real time, said Jared best spot to use heavy ma- any illnesses from spread-
then, the lone holdout — mon. Esselman, director of aero- chinery to clear the road, ing.
Rhode Island — has bought Drones have raised privacy nautics at the state Depart- said Brian Ness, director of A number of states are be-
a drone, group spokesman concerns, but Tymon said ment of Transportation. the Idaho Transportation ginning to explore how to
Tony Dorsey said. new technology lets them Drones also can measure Department. regulate a flood of private
The small, unmanned air- be programmed to avoid snow and other elements In North Carolina, drones drone traffic expected in
craft are often used for entering certain spaces. of the state's rugged terrain are finding the nests of the future. In Ohio, the state
mundane tasks, like inspect- Drones also have caused to keep them from block- endangered species like is working on an air-traffic
ing bridges and roads. With their share of headaches ing roads or other infra- the red-cockaded wood- control system called Sky-
sophisticated cameras and for officials over the years structure. pecker, said Basil Yap, Vision, which would allow
thermal technology, they as personal devices forced "We can predict not only unmanned aerial systems drones to detect and avoid
can detect tiny cracks and the grounding of planes at snow slides, but mudslides program manager at the other aircraft in flight.q

llinois wildlife biologist

aims to save prairie chickens

CHICAGO (AP) — A wildlife species globally remain im- and manager at the Prairie
biologist has taken prai- periled. The loss of species Ridge State Natural Area
rie chickens from Kansas, is a danger to biodiversity near Newton, said he at-
which has a more robust that has a direct impact on tributes his commitment
In this Monday, April 22, 2019 photo, a male greater Illinois prai- population, and released water quality, food security to conserving the prairie
rie chicken, back, tries to entice a hen at Prairie Ridge State them in Illinois in an effort to and ultimately human sur- chickens to his father, Jim
Natural Area outside Newton, Ill. boost the population of the vival, the report indicated. Gillespie. Jim worked on a
Associated Press endangered birds. Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, sweeping study of greater
The birds once numbered chief program officer of prairie chicken nesting be-
in the millions across the the Natural Resources De- havior that chronicled the
state but there are now fense Council, asserted the precise types of nesting
about 200 left, the Chicago substantial numbers sound materials and surrounding
Tribune reported. This week, a call for action around plants that were ideal for
the United Nations’ Inter- the world. Casey-Lefkowitz the birds. That work proved
governmental Science-Pol- added that call for action to be a blueprint for his son,
icy Platform on Biodiversity includes the remaining who now oversees the Prai-
and Ecosystem Services prairie chickens in Illinois. rie Ridge grasslands to the
published a pioneering sci- Bob Gillespie, a wildlife biol- exact height and compo-
entific study on biodiversity, ogist with the Illinois Depart- sition that a nesting hen
which showed that 1 million ment of Natural Resources desires.q