Counting Penguins From Space

摘要

The hardest part of counting penguins isn't getting them to hold still; it's getting to the remote places where they live, especially Antarctica. Satellite images to the rescue: On 13 April, researchers reported the results of the first satellite image-based comprehensive study of penguins in PLoS ONE. To count the birds, the team enhanced the images with pansharpening, making it possible to distinguish between shadows, guano, and actual penguins. The team found twice as many emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) as were thought to exist-roughly 595,000.