Investigating the Influence of the Environment on the Detection and Monitoring of Cattle with an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle using Infrared Radiometry

In this study of ours, we tested the importance of height in detecting and tracking an object about the size of a cow using a drone-mounted infrared radiometer. We monitored how the heat flux from the environment reaching the thermal camera lens varied with changes in the distance between the radiometer and the object. The results indicate the appropriate distances for such monitoring and show the capabilities of infrared thermography for detecting and observing livestock from a height.