UnderTracker: Underground Animal Tracking and Mapping in 3D

Wildlife tracking using wireless sensor networks has garnered a great deal of attention and research, since the seminal ZebraNet project monitored zebras with mobile nodes in 2002. However, research to date has concentrated on monitoring animals when they are above ground. It is currently impossible to automatically monitor animals whilst they are underground. The main reason for this is that radio waves are severely attenuated by layers of soil, to the point of being unusable. There is a strong need for a system that can localize burrowing animals when they are within their dens or tunnels, in order to better understand their behaviour and habits. A prime example of this is the European badger - badgers are a protected species in the UK, yet are subject to widespread culling due to their possible link to bovine TB. By monitoring internal sett conditions and animal interactions underground, a better understanding of infection could potentially be obtained. To tackle these issues, I propose the use of low frequency magnetic fields (i.e. the principle of magneto-induction, MI), which are able to penetrate soil without attenuation, to provide ultra-low power three dimensional localization of wild animals within their burrows. Data from tracking collars will be forwarded by conventional high frequency radio links when the animal is above ground, meaning that the animal does not need to be recaptured to obtain the stored information. By mapping animal movements over time, the subterranean tunnel architecture itself will be determined, something which can currently only be obtained, destructively, through excavation. Sensors within the tunnel will monitor gas concentrations and temperature gradients, which will help to explain how animals achieve suitable ventilation underground and maintain body temperature. To investigate animal behaviour, tracking collars will be equipped with miniature sensors, such as accelerometers and magnetometers, which will record motion and energetics. To reduce data volumes, tracking collars will automatically characterize animal behaviour primitives, such as walking or sleeping. To further increase the rate of learning this information, tracking collars will share motion features, forming a distributed knowledge base. Thus, this research proposes a broad animal monitoring and tracking system, which will reveal a complete picture of animal life underground, for the first time.To achieve the goals of the research a close collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at the University of Oxford will be formed. They will guide the design of the tracking collars and attach them to suitable badgers during regular research undertaken in Wytham Woods, Oxfordshire. Their expertise is also vital in framing the research to address biologically relevant questions. Data from this system will also be used by researchers in the University of Cambridge Computing Laboratory, to investigate social contact networks. Ultimately this insight into the detail of badgers' lives will help to unravel the true extent with which they interact with each other, and shed light not just on the behavioural-ecology of this species, but investigate their social systems and address important questions concerning the transmission of disease.

This work has the potential for significant impact within the broad zoological context. This ranges from understanding how animals behave and interact underground to deriving models of disease transfer. The main beneficiary is the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, who are extremely interested in the outcomes of this research, as there is no comparable method of obtaining animal location underground. Furthermore, as the role of badgers in the spread of bovine TB is a contentious issue, this research could shed light on mechanisms of disease transfer underground and could potentially suggest scientifically guided solutions for control. This is especially important due to recent rises in the incidence of bovine TB in cattle and planned future culls. Thus, the data gathered by this system could be used by policy makers to determine the best strategy to control bovine TB. In terms of general conservation, the public are extremely interested in animal behaviour. This is demonstrated by the high viewerships of programs such as Springwatch on the BBC. This technology could be used to show how animals interact underground in a non-invasive manner. Raising awareness of animals is important from a conservation perspective. To reach the general public, a website will be constructed which will explain how the technology works and what results it has obtained. To further engage people, social networking tools such as Twitter and facebook will be used so that people can follow the activities of badgers and receive automatic, regular updates from the tracking system. By making animals part of the pervasive digital fabric of the internet, it will be a simple, yet effective way, of reaching a large number of people across the world. Although the primary channel for dissemination is through online tools, other conventional media such as newspapers, television and magazines will also be targeted. Although the principal aims of this proposal are on tracking animals underground, the basic technology could be used in a number of other areas. One such example is mine rescue. This would need to work over a much larger area, but the ability to pinpoint a miner's location in an emergency scenario (e.g. due to a rockburst) has the potential to save lives. Another area where this technology could be used is in precision agriculture. This requires sensor devices to be buried within fields where they will not be ploughed up or destroyed by farming implements. The investigations into communication through soil could easily be extended to this area. This has the potential to optimize fertilizer delivery or irrigation, which is vitally important in a resource constrained world. To this end, if the technology is demonstrated to be useful in these arenas, steps will be taken to form collaborations or commercialize sensor devices.