What’s described as the world’s first fully automated acoustic ‘panoramic’ landscape monitoring system, which can report in real-time on the landscape of natural sounds in a given area, is being developed by bioacoustics firm AgriSound.
The firm suggests the system could vastly facilitate the study of biodiversity in areas of land such as farms, allowing them to be monitored for pollinator activity, or forests focusing on improving biodiversity levels, or other areas of land where nature is being protected. It presents opportunities to scale environmental surveillance.
The group says the new technology will provide a wider reach, more holistic view, and lower cost option of monitoring the environment, which currently relies on manual labour and human observation. “As a cost-effective large-scale data capture, AgriSound is providing farmers, land managers and businesses real-time insights over extended periods, increasing the ease and scope of gathering evidence for biodiversity assessments and improvements,” says AgriSound.
The project also plans to develop tools to establish a widespread network of smart listening devices, to automatically characterise ecosystems and monitor the presence and abundance of key indicator bird, mammal, amphibian and insect species.
AgriSound has secured a grant of over £200,000 from Innovate UK to use advanced AI-powered soundscape analysis, and will provide real-time environmental data, supporting sustainable farming and biodiversity protection efforts taking place across the country – and which are increasingly mandated by legislative requirements and global sustainability commitments.
Partnering with ecological consultancy, Baker Consultants, and agricultural research charity, Crop Innovations, AgriSound says it aims to deliver a cost-effective, continuous monitoring solution to help farmers, landowners, and businesses better understand and protect biodiversity. The system can provide detailed insights into species presence, habitat health, and biodiversity changes.
This research project builds upon AgriSound’s existing innovative insect monitoring system, Polly, to offer a broader range of environmental insights. “By using sophisticated audio analysis algorithms and cloud-based AI, this new product will automatically generate comprehensive biodiversity metrics across diverse landscapes, offering actionable insights into natural ecosystems. It is expected to be priced at £10/month upon deployment.”
Agritech says the project’s environmental benefits are wide-ranging. By equipping farmers and land managers with detailed, real-time data, the system will give farmers and land managers the data they need to adapt their land use, as demand for sustainable practices grows. The new system could promote more sustainable farming practices and support compliance with biodiversity-focused regulations such as Defra’s Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS) and Biodiversity Net Gain, making it easier to enhance biodiversity while maintaining agricultural productivity.
Tracking tweaks
The new system could also provide businesses with the real-time data necessary to monitor nature-friendly interventions to improve upon owned land and effectively prove and report on action taken for requirements such as Environmental, Social and Governance rules.
Known for its work in biodiversity monitoring and ecoacoustics, Baker Consultants’ team of experts have undertaken to validate the system, by comparing the methodology of the technology against existing gold-standard ecological assessment techniques. As a leading consultancy in ecoacoustics, Baker Consultants aims to integrate the new system into its services, providing continuous, long-term data collection to augment its expert analysis.
Crop Innovation’s expertise in adapting biological protocols for commercial applications makes it the other key partner on this project. Crop Innovations are set to lead the management and field deployment of the new system, focusing on verifying the technology in real-world conditions.
Casey Woodward, CEO and co-founder of AgriSound, said: “Our new acoustic monitoring system is the first solution to offer fully automated, maintenance-free landscape monitoring at scale, giving industries and landowners access to more accurate, timely, and comprehensive biodiversity data. This will allow for improved compliance with government policies and offer key insights to manage land sustainably.”
Dr. Carlos Abrahams of Baker Consultants, said: “We are anticipating that the new system will greatly expand our capabilities to rapidly generate biodiversity information, and make this available in real-time across a landscape-scale array of sensors. This automation of data collection goes beyond, but complements, what we can achieve through manual field surveys, ensuring that ecological methods keep pace with technological advancements – and offering clients more detailed data at a lower cost.”
AgriSound says the solution promises to deliver low-cost, holistic biodiversity monitoring and actionable insights for industries, developers, and farmers.
