Stardust Crusaders☆ - Space Apps Challenge

Stardust Crusaders☆| Scanning for Lifeforms

Scanning for Lifeforms

This challenge addresses a pressing global need to track change in biological diversity, which is threatened by human-driven environmental change. Use space agency data to develop innovative ways to detect biological diversity on Earth, track and predict changes over time, and communicate that information to scientists and society.

Call of the Sea Project.

Summary

“Ocean is more ancient than the mountains, and freighted with the memories and the dreams of Time.” Throughout the years, the ocean has been the source of life in the world, hides endless mysteries, species, and is home to millions of living beings. There are an estimated 8.7 million species, where scientists calculate that only 7.77 million are the animal species, and 953,434 of these are cataloged. Our project seeks to offer a way to detect changes in sea temperature, with the help of machine learning algorithms, prediction algorithms, and the species that help the balance in the ocean: whales.

How We Addressed This Challenge

Our "Hipster Whale" logo

The development of this project is based on the investigation of whale specimens during their migration season in Panamanian territory. The whales decide to migrate to Panamanian waters due to the warm temperatures, which makes them a perfect environment for mothers and their calves to be safe from predators. We decided to address this challenge due to the great importance the role of this species plays in the marine ecosystem, which is how balance is maintained and exists, this gives the whales the title of environmental engineers.

Our solution is the development of a device called "Hipster Whale", which is implanted in the whale's back, it allows the tracking of the cetacean, either during its migration to cold waters in search of food or warm waters, to their reproduction and rearing of their calves. This device has an integrated dynamo that allows to extend the life of the battery generating energy, so that when the whale is swimming, the current of water will generate energy to charge the battery of the device.

Through the geolocation of the whale, we seek to predict the possible route that the animal takes according to the environmental factors of the area in which they are, based on this, our prediction algorithm will predict possible destinations and environmental conditions in which the mammal can be found, in addition to this, you can observe the possible changes in the behavior of the herd at the time of their trip.

Our goal

With this solution we hope to help species as important as whales are, which are in danger of extinction either by human hands or factors such as climate change and even ocean pollution. Knowing this, with the help of whales, which swim surprisingly long distances, this device could help us to detect through temperature changes, what is happening in the ocean and even help biologists in collecting data for the study of this and other species.

How We Developed This Project

Based on information on the conditions that are occurring in the environment as a result of pollution and climate changes, we have seen that humans are very anxious to seek the unknown and do not see the reality of what already exists.

The days of certain species that contribute balances to ecosystems are already counted, and it will not be long before they are part of the great list of extinct species. It is no secret that whales are in great danger in their own home. An existence of millions of years threatens to fade, victim of numerous actions that only favor the human species.

The role of whales in the proper functioning of the marine ecosystem is indisputable. Their feces, rich in iron, nitrogen and other nutrients, act as a fertilizer, increasing the productivity of small algae known as phytoplankton. These are the main food for small crustaceans known as krill, which in turn support the lives of hundreds of species of fish, birds and marine mammals, including whales.

Humpback whale (https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/whale)

Impact

In order to truly understand our environment, we must be able to accurately observe, classify, and predict environmental changes. Never before have we been able to understand our environment in such depth. Through the use of AI, we can achieve a degree of certainty in our observations that enables us to make truly informed decisions about the steps we must take to protect our planet. Artificial Intelligence can provide us with accurate predictions about phenomena such as climate change and the effects that it will bring.

Our approach is to develop a tracking device that allows us to collect data in real time by which, through machine learning, we can predict future changes in temperatures and other factors in the sea, thus helping many more species of aquatic animals than they could be in a state of total extinction due to climatic changes caused by human factors.

Our Prototype (in progress)

Through the combination of robotics and cloud computing we can create systems that allow us to observe different species within their environment to better understand and predict their behavior. This type of system can be applied in different projects. Whether they seek to identify pathogens before they generate epidemics in vulnerable populations or to combat the illegal hunting of endangered species, AI tools applied to the observation of biodiversity allow us to better understand our relationship with the thousands of species with which we share the planet.

How it works?

The main idea is to place the device on adult whales, although it is true that there are already similar devices being used in species such as, the innovative thing about "Hispter Whale" is that it comes equipped with a dynamo that allows the device to be recharged, offering greater autonomy, since it has better energy efficiency and more sensors can be added to it unlike other devices, for example, geolocation, temperature sensors, sensors that monitor the health of the whale, among other possible sensors in the same device.

The dynamo added to the device, recharges the battery only when its power level is below 40% and will stop recharging the battery when it reaches 100%, this to extend the life of the battery. The device can be varied in size to accommodate different large marine species.

The main idea of the device is that through the data collected on ocean temperatures and the paths that whales follow, it allows generating predictions of possible routes or changes that may arise during the migration of these cetaceans.

In addition to this, we developed a prediction algorithm that uses the SKlearn library to predict the temperature of the months in which the whales visit Isla Coiba in Panama, we did this using data obtained from NASA's temperature satellites (NOAA- 12 and NRT - Sentinel-3), we collect the average ocean temperatures for each month from 2003 to date and convert them into a .CSV file, which we load into the algorithm that performs the prediction. The data collected from the prediction will allow us to know if the water temperatures near Isla Coiba will be adequate during the months when whales usually visit this place, in this way it will be possible to predict possible decreases in the migration of whales to these waters.

To carry out the tests and simulations of our project we use different tools and resources:

Python: for algorithm programming
Google Colab: for testing and simulating the algorithm.
Sklearn: is a free software machine learning library for Python.
Autodesk Maya: for the creation of our prototype

How We Used Space Agency Data in This Project

For this project, we based our work on data about temperature changes in the ocean, this information was obtained thanks to NASA and its satellites NOAA-12 and NRT - Sentinel-3. We took the time to review all the characteristics each data provider has. We decide to analise the date since 2003 till the present and write down on a CSV format.

These where the sites we review: