a slide that briefly explains the application of tls and point cloud processing to automate the bats population count in limited illumination surrounding.

1. GIS FOR BIOSPELEOLOGY
APPLICATION
SUZANNA BINTI NOOR
AZMY
PGH153026
PhD IN GEOINFORMATICS

2. DEFINITION
SPELEOLOGY
the study or exploration of caves.
BIOSPELEOLOGY
GEOMATIC
SURVEY
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Hydro-geological modeling
Seepage / percolation
Water storage capacity
Water run-off
Branch of biology,
dedicated to the study
of organisms that live
in caves; collectively
known as troglofauna.
Relationship with climate
Contribute
in terms of
data
collection
for

3. GIS DATA COLLECTION FOR
SPELEOLOGY
Terrestrial Laser Scanning (point cloud)
Replication of
Altamira Caves
using
triangulation-
based Minolta VI-
700 scanner.
3D mapping in the
Upper Palaeolithic
cave of Cap Blanc,
southwest France
using Surveyor
Autoscanning
Laser System
(1999)
3D Laser
Scanning
drone
Took the longest
time from 1988 –
2001; scanner range
limited from 0.7m –
1.1m
Not accurate Limited
storage
evolution

4. GIS IN BIOSPELEOLOGY
GIS: Terrestrial
Laser
Scanning
Biospeleology:
Bats /
Chiroptera

5. WHY BATS? Plays important role in balancing the
environment and symbiosis equilibrium
Main pollinator to 31 plant species in Malaysia
(100 percent reliance on bats) (Kingston et al., 2009)
Benefits the agricultural economic: Pest Control
(Boyles et al., 2011)
Bats facing serious species declination (Lane et al., 2006)
There is a need to improve the conventional bat’s survey method
Human Hunting
White Nose Syndrome
Wind Turbine
Urban Development

6. CONVENTIONAL BAT SURVEY
METHODS
MANUAL
SURVEY
AUTOMAT
IC SURVEY
Visual Observation Count
Catch and Release
Mist Net Harp Trap
Indices Extrapolation
Photo Capturing
Thermal Imaging

7. THE PROPOSED SOLUTION
Terrestrial Laser Scanning of caves
Filtering Script
Clustering Script
Automatic Bat Population Co
3D model of the cave
Suggested the range of
greyscale threshold that
represent bats (on the point
cloud data)
Suggested the range of point
clouds number and length in
space that represent bats (on
the point cloud data)
Walk through experience that
enhances understanding

8. DATA COLLECTION
Cave Name Location
Gua Asar Lenggong, Perak
Gua Wang
Burma
Padang Besar, Perlis
Gua Kelawar Sungai Kilim, Langkawi
A. Tripod
B. Faro Photon 120
C. Cable
D. Laptop
E. Sphere Marker E

9. DATA PROCESSING

10. FILTERING SCRIPT (BAT
EXTRACTION)
Bottom
filter eliminates all point
below specified z
values
Greyscal
e filter
eliminates all non-bat’s point
based on specified greyscale
value

11. CLUSTERING SCRIPT
DBSCAN algorithm
FilterV
ClusterDBSCAN

12. DATA VALIDATION
Bat
Individual
s
Calculatio
n
Bat
Species
Identificati
on
Harp Trap Setup
Mist Net Setup
Literature Review on the species at the same study area
Bat’s Physical Examination
360 photography
Manual counting

13. FINDINGS
N
o
Study area Manual
Counting
Automatic
Bat
Counting
Script
Accuracy
percentag
e of ABC
1 Gua Asar 415 354 85.3%
2 Gua Wang Burma 0 0
3 Gua Kelawar 1520 1454 95.7%

14. FINDINGS
Hipposideros larvatus
Hipposideros armiger
presence of anti-tragus,
forearm length of 5.6 cm and
the presence of nose leaf
absence of anti-tragus,
forearm length of 10.1 cm
and the presence of nose leaf

15. ACHIEVEMENT
Publication of digital journal paper in Nature Scientific Report.
Counting in the dark: Non-intrusive laser scanning for population
counting and identifying roosting bats
DOI: 10.1038/srep00524
Published on: July 2012 IF:
5.578
Silver medal at the International Art and Technology Exhibition
(INATEX) 2012.
Bronze medal at the BioMalaysia Exhibition (Bioinnovation) 2013.
Best Platform Presentation Award from 2nd International South East
Asian Bat Conference, Bogor, Indonesia
Implementation of this proposed method for UNESCO annual
population report at Gua Kelawar for 2012

16. CONCLUSION
This research has been proven to open a new possibility in surveying
biospeleological features.
Based on this success achievement, other research has started to apply the
technology of laser scanning on other biospeleology feature for example
research by McFarlene (2015) on swiftlet nest.