PCI Geomatics is donating its premiere software suite Geomatica to assist the Save the Elephants (STE) organization in Africa. Geomatica will be used to process and analyze satellite imagery to help understand the movement and ranging behaviour of elephants and to answer questions about habitat locations.
The STE pioneered the use of GSM-GPS tracking collars which record and report an elephant’s position every hour. As such, the STE has a database with over one million recorded elephant positions, and has compiled incredible ranging behaviour not previously observed.
Save the Elephants will be using Geomatica for orthorectifying historic aerial photos for comparison against current aerial photography, and assessment of vegetation degradation.
It will also be used to process and analyze Fine Beam Radar imagery acquired over Mali to map human settlements in the range of elephants. Utilizing thermal imagery, Geomatica will help identify water sources, as well as supervised classification of vegetation using Landsat/Aster imagery in areas of key importance to elephants.
“PCI Geomatics is thrilled to donate its software to such noble organizations like Save the Elephants,” said, Alysia Vetter, Marketing Communications Specialist at PCI Geomatics. “By using Geomatica, STE will be able to convert their vast amounts of imagery into useable information for their crusade.”
The future of elephants in Africa depends on a sound scientific understanding of their needs for space and resources. The information acquired will lead to a better long-term management plan for elephants in a rapidly changing ecosystem across Africa.