DJI M300 drone observes rare Tibetan antelopes in nighttime study

DJI has used an M300 RTK drone equipped with Zenmuse H20N to provide researchers in China accurate night vision capabilities that enabled the recent observation and tracking of rare, migrating Tibetan antelopes toward their reproduction area.

Nicknamed “plateau elves,” Tibetan antelopes are among the threatened species that scientists at the Northwest Plateau Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences sought to observe during a recent migration period. The area monitored was at an altitude of 4,600 meters, and featured rolling terrain making constant manual monitoring in daylight difficult – and virtually impossible at night. 

Read: DJI (already) releases Avata FPV drone firmware update 

As a work-around to those challenges, researchers decided to get an elevated perspective. To do so they used DJI’s M300 RTK to flatten the nearby peaks and valleys, and the Zenmuse H20N’s high-power zoom infrared thermal imaging, night vision, and…