ISSS608 2017-18 T3 Assign Sun Shuangtian

  VAST 2018 Mini Challenge 1

Background

Data Selection

Migration Pattern

Kasios’ Recording Investigation

Conclusion

Back to Dropbox1

Challenge Description

In 2017, the VAST Challenge results suggested that the Kasios Furniture manufacturing company may have been a primary contributor to the apparent reduction of the number of nesting pairs of the Rose-Crested Blue Pipit. They surreptitiously dumped process waste in the northeast region of the Preserve and Methylosmolene was detected in their smokestack.
Kasios now claims that the analysis was flawed and biased. To combat these conclusions, Kasios has launched their own “investigation” into the Pipit situation, and they are now reporting that there are plenty of Rose-crested Blue Pipits happily living and nesting in the Preserve. To back up this claim, they have provided a set of Pipit bird calls, recently recorded across the Preserve, with locations of where they were recorded. Clearly, they claim, the Pipits are a thriving population.
The Pangera Ornithology Conservation Society is at their wit’s end at what to do about this turn of events.. Mistford College has a collection of bird calls from the Preserve that has been vetted by various ornithology groups as having accurate identifications. They have heard that new techniques from machine learning and visual analytics can be applied to situations like this. Perhaps, the calls could be classified and analysed using these technologies.

Questions

1. Using the bird call collection and the included map of the Wildlife Preserve, characterize the patterns of all of the bird species in the Preserve over the time of the collection. Please assume we have a reasonable distribution of sensors and human collectors providing the recordings, so that the patterns are reasonably representative of the bird locations across the area. Do you detect any trends or anomalies in the patterns?
2.Turn your attention to the set of bird calls supplied by Kasios. Does this set support the claim of Pipits being found across the Preserve? A machine learning approach using the bird call library may help your investigation. What is the role of visualization in your analysis of the Kasios bird calls?
3. Formulate a hypotheses concerning the state of the Rose Crested Blue Pipit. What are your primary pieces of evidence to support your assertion? What next steps should be taken in the investigation to either support or refute the Kasios claim that the Pipits are actually thriving across the Boonsong Lekagul Wildlife Preserve?

Methodology

To refute Kasios’ claim that there are plenty of Rose-crested Blue Pipits happily living and nesting in the Preserve, we will do further investigation from two angles.
• Characterize the migration patterns of Rose-crested Blue Pipits using the bird recording collection csv file.
• Inspect the bird recordings from Kasios and compare the frequency with the Rose-crested Blue Pipits song and call.

Visualization Tools

• Tableau
• R

The interactive visualization can be accessed here: Tableau Public.

Reference

Please visit VAST Challenge 2018: Mini-Challenge 1.