科學(xué)家從太空中統(tǒng)計(jì)鯨魚(yú)的數(shù)量

UK scientists have demonstrated the practicality of counting whales from space.

英國(guó)科學(xué)家日前證明了從太空計(jì)數(shù)鯨魚(yú)的實(shí)用性。

The researchers, from the British Antarctic Survey(BAS), have been using the highest resolution satellite pictures available.

來(lái)自英國(guó)南極調(diào)查局的研究人員一直在使用最高分辨率的衛(wèi)星圖片計(jì)數(shù)鯨魚(yú)。

Even when taken from 620km up, this imagery is sharp enough to capture the distinctive shapes of different species.

即使從620公里以上拍攝，這個(gè)圖像也足夠清晰，可以捕捉到不同物種的獨(dú)特形狀。

The team will soon conduct an audit of fin whales in the Mediterranean.

該小組很快將會(huì)對(duì)地中海的長(zhǎng)須鯨進(jìn)行統(tǒng)計(jì)。

The first-of-its-kind assessment will be partly automated by employing a computer program to search through the satellite data.

這次前所未有的計(jì)數(shù)的一部分將由計(jì)算機(jī)程序搜索衛(wèi)星數(shù)據(jù)完成。

Waters north of Corsica, known as the Ligurian Sea, are a protected area for cetaceans, and the regional authorities want to understand better the animals' movements in relation to shipping to try to avoid collisions.

科西嘉島北部的水域，被稱(chēng)為利古里亞海，是鯨類(lèi)動(dòng)物的保護(hù)區(qū)，地區(qū)當(dāng)局希望更好地了解這些動(dòng)物在船只來(lái)往時(shí)作出的活動(dòng)反應(yīng)，從而避免碰撞的發(fā)生。

Previous studies have played with the idea of spotting whales from orbit, but with limitedsuccess.

以前的研究提出過(guò)從衛(wèi)星軌道上計(jì)數(shù)鯨魚(yú)的想法，但成效有限。

This new approach from BAS has drawn on imagery from the WorldView-3 spacecraft operated by the American company Digital Globle.

英國(guó)南極調(diào)查局的這種新方法，使用了美國(guó)公司DigitalGloble運(yùn)營(yíng)的WorldView-3航天器來(lái)繪制圖像。

World View-3 is able to discern things at the Earth's surface as small as 31cm across. Only restricted military systems see finer detail.

WorldView-3能夠識(shí)別地球表面小到31厘米的東西。只有受限制的軍事系統(tǒng)才能看到更精細(xì)的圖像。

"Satellites have improved so much with their spatial resolution," explained Hannah Cubaynes, who is affiliated to both Cambridge University and BAS. "For the first time we've been able to see features that are truly distinctive of whales, such as their flippers and flukes."

劍橋大學(xué)和英國(guó)南極調(diào)查局的研究員漢納·庫(kù)比內(nèi)斯解釋道：“衛(wèi)星的空間分辨率得到了很大的提升。我們第一次能夠看到真正屬于鯨魚(yú)的獨(dú)特特征，例如鰭狀肢和身上的吸蟲(chóng)。”