Do your Spidey senses ever tingle, making you think there might be wildlife lurking nearby? Or do you ever wonder what amazing places the hummingbird in your backyard sees on its migratory journey across the Gulf of Mexico? Well this summer you may be able to do that and more without ever walking out your front door! It’s all thanks to the 19-year-long dream of Dr. Martin Wikelski and an antenna installed on the International Space Station.

您的Spidey感觉有没有发麻，使您认为附近可能潜伏着野生动物？ 或者，您是否想过蜂鸟在您穿越墨西哥湾的迁徙旅程中，在您的后院中会看到什么神奇的地方？ 好吧，今年夏天，您无需出门就可以做到这一点！ 这全都归功于马丁·维克尔斯基(Martin Wikelski)博士长达19年的梦想，并在国际空间站上安装了天线。

Project ICARUS (International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space), led by Dr. Wikelski at the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior, is revolutionizing animal tracking with an interactive platform, dubbed the “Internet of Animals,” that will allow anyone to track animals around the world in near-real time.

由马克斯·普朗克动物行为研究所的Wikelski博士领导的ICARUS项目 (利用空间进行动物研究的国际合作)正在通过一个被称为“动物互联网”的交互式平台，彻底改变动物跟踪，该平台将使任何人都可以跟踪动物几乎实时地遍布全球。

As the GIS and technical computing associate in the Center for Conservation Innovation (CCI) here at Defenders, this interstellar excitement certainly caught my eye. I thought about how much easier this would have made my life when I used to work as a field technician tracking seabirds in Alaska and Connecticut. All too often birds would return to their nests without the GPS trackers we had so carefully deployed days earlier. Without these trackers, we would never know how far the birds traveled for food or what places had enough fish to eat as changing sea surface temperatures shifted their range. On other occasions, the tagged birds could only be tracked within a few miles of our antenna, so if we wanted to know where the birds were going, we had to hop on a boat, antenna and all, and go find them.

正如位于Defenders的保护创新中心(CCI)的GIS和技术计算助理一样，这种星际刺激无疑吸引了我的注意。 我曾想过，当我作为现场技术员在阿拉斯加和康涅狄格州追踪海鸟时，这将使我的生活变得多么容易。 如果没有几天前我们精心部署的GPS追踪器，鸟类经常会返回巢穴。 如果没有这些追踪器，我们将永远不会知道鸟类会走多远才能觅食，或者随着海面温度的变化，它们会在哪个地方吃到足够的鱼。 在其他情况下，只能在距离我们的天线几英里的范围内追踪被标记的鸟类，因此，如果我们想知道鸟类的去向，我们必须跳上一条船，天线和所有物体，然后找到它们。

Many of the heartbreaks, mishaps and hurdles that go along with the tracking technology that I (and countless other wildlife biologists) use in the field could be avoided with this new technology. In addition, the kind of worldwide species data ICARUS would collect could move Defenders’ work forward by leaps and bounds. We could gain a deeper understanding of animal movements all throughout North America and the world — all without leaving our headquarters in Washington, DC!

借助这项新技术，可以避免我(以及无数其他野生生物生物学家)在现场使用的跟踪技术所伴随的许多令人心碎，不幸和障碍。 此外，ICARUS收集的全球物种数据可以使防御者的工作突飞猛进。 在不离开我们位于华盛顿特区的总部的情况下，我们可以对整个北美乃至全世界的动物运动有更深入的了解！

现代野生动物追踪 (Modern Day Wildlife Tracking)

Two major technologies dominate the current world of wildlife tracking:

当前，野生动植物追踪领域占据着两项主要技术：

GPS Tracking: In this case, a GPS tracking device (for example, a tag on the back of a seabird or a collar on a bobcat) will receive signals from satellites orbiting Earth that indicate where the GPS tracker is located. The GPS tracker on the animal will then store this information. Depending on the type of tracker, you can either download the data remotely or you must retrieve the tracker from the animal. In these cases, if you lose the tracker, much like we had multiple times in Alaska, you lose the data (and eat the cost of an expensive piece of equipment).

GPS跟踪：在这种情况下，GPS跟踪设备(例如，海鸟背面的标签或山猫的项圈)将从环绕地球的卫星接收信号，以指示GPS跟踪器的位置。 然后，动物身上的GPS跟踪器将存储此信息。 根据跟踪器的类型，您可以远程下载数据，或者必须从动物中检索跟踪器。 在这种情况下，如果您丢失了跟踪器(就像我们在阿拉斯加经历过多次一样)，则会丢失数据(并付出昂贵设备的成本)。

Radio Telemetry: A common type of radio telemetry is “Very High Frequency” (VHF) radio tracking, which tracks an animal using radio transmitters secured in a similar fashion to GPS devices. The researcher uses an antenna to track transmissions from the animal’s device if it is within range, much like my experience tracking down birds by boat in Connecticut.

无线电遥测：无线电遥测的一种常见类型是“甚高频”(VHF)无线电跟踪，它使用与GPS设备类似的固定方式的无线电发射器跟踪动物。 研究人员使用天线来跟踪动物设备发出的信号(如果它在范围内)，就像我在康涅狄格州乘船追踪鸟类的经验一样。

While it is great that we can collect spatial data on animals’ movements using this technology, there are a few drawbacks:

使用此技术可以收集有关动物运动的空间数据非常好，但存在一些缺点：

1. Tracker attachment and retrieval can be stressful for the animal and it often means you must recapture the animal.跟踪器的附着和取回可能对动物造成压力，这通常意味着您必须重新捕获动物。
2. Some trackers run out of battery after a few hours or days, so they only provide a small snapshot of where that animal is going. While this snapshot is helpful, it doesn’t tell the whole story.一些追踪器会在几小时或几天后耗尽电池电量，因此它们仅提供了该动物行进路线的小快照。 尽管此快照很有用，但并不能说明全部情况。
3. When using radio transmitters, you are limited by the distance an animal travels from the antenna to collect data. This isn’t ideal for species that travel long distances.当使用无线电发射器时，您会受到动物从天线到收集数据的距离的限制。 对于长距离传播的物种而言，这不是理想的选择。

4. Scientists using radio telemetry can often have hefty cell phone bills because each data transmission is sent in the form of an SMS message (a worst-case scenario is the story of these Russian eagles that ran up massive data roaming charges when they left the country).

   使用无线电遥测的科学家通常可能需要支付高昂的手机账单，因为每次数据传输都是以SMS消息的形式发送的(最坏的情况是这些俄罗斯老鹰离开该国时要承担大量数据漫游费用的故事) 。

There is some sophisticated technology out there that addresses some of these problems with solar-powered GPS trackers that can share data remotely and never need to be recharged by humans or retrieved. Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s “VultureNet” also employs creative ways to address radio transmitter limitations by outfitting turkey vultures with antennas to collect data transmitted from nearby radio tagged birds as they move together on similar migratory routes. However, many of these solutions are still expensive, don’t have worldwide coverage and often only track the location of an animal and not additional factors like the animal’s body condition or the surrounding climate.

太阳能GPS追踪器可以解决这些问题中的一些问题，这些GPS追踪器可以远程共享数据，而无需人工充电或取回。 康奈尔大学鸟类学实验室的“ VultureNet”还采用了创新的方法，通过为火鸡秃鹰配备天线来收集附近无线电标记的鸟类在相似的迁徙路线上移动时发送的数据，从而解决无线电发射机的局限性。 但是，这些解决方案中的许多解决方案仍然很昂贵，没有覆盖全球，并且通常仅跟踪动物的位置，而不跟踪诸如动物的身体状况或周围气候等其他因素。

ICARUS如何颠覆野生动物追踪 (How ICARUS is flipping wildlife tracking on its head)

This is where ICARUS and their “Internet of Animals” comes in with an innovative solution! The project’s specially designed tags are radio transmitters and GPS tags, and they are incredibly small and light, allowing researchers to gather data on species that were previously too small to track. The tags also include an accelerometer (measures velocity), magnetometer (measures shifts in magnetic fields), gyroscope (measures orientation and rotation) and temperature sensor. This means that ICARUS will use its satellite to not only monitor geographic location, but also physiology — such as skin temperature and body position — and the weather in the surrounding environment to convey to researchers the health of the animals and their environment.

这就是ICARUS及其“动物互联网”提供创新解决方案的地方！ 该项目的特别设计的标签是无线电发射器和GPS标签，它们的体积小而轻，令人难以置信，使研究人员可以收集以前太小而无法追踪的物种数据。 标签还包括加速度计(测量速度)，磁力计(测量磁场的位移)，陀螺仪(测量方向和旋转)和温度传感器。 这意味着ICARUS将使用其卫星不仅监视地理位置，而且还监视生理(例如皮肤温度和身体位置)以及周围环境的天气，以向研究人员传达动物及其周围环境的健康状况。

The tags will still use a radio-transmitted signal to transmit data, but they will no longer rely on a mobile network to send those occasionally expensive SMS messages. This is because all ICARUS transmitters will be on a separate system that only interacts with the newly installed satellite onboard the space station, providing a centralized system to access data and nearly worldwide data collection for a fraction of the cost.

标签仍将使用无线电传输的信号来传输数据，但它们将不再依赖移动网络来发送那些偶尔昂贵的SMS消息。 这是因为所有ICARUS发射器都将位于单独的系统上，该系统仅与空间站上新安装的卫星进行交互，从而提供了一个集中式系统来访问数据和几乎全球范围的数据收集，而费用仅为一小部分。

Dr. Wikelski and his team plan to make the data from their efforts accessible in real time for everyone — including scientists, policy makers, and the general public — through the Movebank database and a cell phone application. Such data can be applied to efforts tracking threatened or endangered species and catching poachers by programming the platform to notify researchers when a tagged animal has stopped moving or its body temperature has dropped dramatically. These trackers can also last for an animal’s lifetime without ever needing to be retrieved.

Wikelski博士及其团队计划通过Movebank数据库和手机应用程序，将所有人(包括科学家，政策制定者和公众)实时获取的努力数据进行访问。 通过对平台进行编程，以在标记动物停止运动或体温急剧下降时通知研究人员，可以将此类数据应用于追踪威胁或濒危物种并捕获偷猎者的工作。 这些跟踪器也可以持续一生，而无需检索。

在瞬息万变的世界中进行野生动植物追踪的需求 (The need for wildlife tracking in an ever-changing world)

Though each approach uses slightly different methods, the results are the same: Geospatial data that help us see where the wild things are. With such information, our geospatial team here at CCI can pinpoint which habitats these species rely on for food, shelter, mates and migration. This also informs our understanding of habitat connectivity needs for a species as they search for safe passage to new locales under changing climatic conditions or in response to habitat loss.

尽管每种方法使用的方法略有不同，但结果是相同的：地理空间数据可帮助我们了解野生物的位置。 有了这些信息，我们位于CCI的地理空间团队就可以查明这些物种赖以生存的食物，住所，伴侣和迁徙所依赖的栖息地。 这也使我们了解了物种在不断变化的气候条件下或应对栖息地丧失时寻求安全通行到新场所的需求。

Having the kind of wildlife traffic network data Dr. Wikelski has dreamed of over his 19 years of working on the ICARUS project could inform wildlife research all over the globe. We could understand shifts in migration patterns of at-risk species due to climate change. We could identify exactly where animals are dispersing across the U.S.-Mexico border to prioritize areas to protect as the current administration constructs massive border barriers. We could understand patterns of disease among animals near urban areas to proactively respond to the threat of a pandemic similar to what we find ourselves in now. Dr. Wikelski suggests we could even use these data to identify unusual wildlife movements in real time to use as a potential indicator of natural events that animals can sense, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis.

Wikelski博士梦以求的野生动植物交通网络数据使他在ICARUS项目上工作了19年之久，可以为全球的野生动植物研究提供帮助。 我们可以理解由于气候变化造成的高危物种迁移模式的变化。 我们可以确切地确定动物在美墨边境分布的位置，以便在本届政府建立大规模边境壁垒时优先保护区域。 我们可以了解市区附近动物的疾病模式，以主动应对类似于我们现在发现的大流行的威胁。 Wikelski博士建议，我们甚至可以使用这些数据实时识别野生动植物的异常活动，以作为动物可以感知的自然事件(例如地震，火山爆发和海啸)的潜在指标。

On a much smaller scale, we could track the bobcat in our backyard or the hummingbird that flies 500 miles or more across the Gulf of Mexico in one go. Whether it be informing the novice naturalist or the trained scientist, the “Internet of Animals” has the potential to reinvigorate and inform wildlife conservation across the globe.

在较小的规模上，我们可以跟踪山猫在我们的后院或蜂鸟一次飞过墨西哥湾500英里或更多的路程。 无论是向博物学家还是经过培训的科学家提供信息，“动物互联网”都具有重振和宣传全球野生动植物保护的潜力。

作者 (Author)

梅·莱西 (Mae Lacey)

GIS and Technical Computing Associate

GIS和技术计算助理

As the GIS and Technical Computing Associate, Mae provides full-service mapping support and basic geospatial analysis support for Defenders staff nationwide and in collaborative work with external organizations.

作为GIS和技术计算协会的成员，Mae为全国各地的Defenders员工以及与外部组织的合作提供全面服务的地图支持和基本的地理空间分析支持。

学到更多： (Learn More:)

• Innovating for Wildlife Conservation

  创新野生动物保护