MQUTeR Environmental Workbench

 

This portal provides access to the acoustic sensor data gathered by the Sensor Networks team at the Microsoft QUT eResearch Centre (MQUTeR). The data has been gathered from a variety of locations throughout Queensland and is being used by environmental scientists for a range of projects including investigating rare birds, koala behaviour, and monitoring Samford Valley's environment.  All our data has been made publicly available, and scientists have tagged many species of interest that have been captured by our microphones.

Koala research on St Bees Island

The MQUTeR Environmental Workbench is divided into different web pages, with various functionalities:

  • Sensor data provides access to all sensor data that has been recorded at all sites; the user is presented with most current results straight up, to make tagging of new data quick and easy.
  • Sensor management is used to monitor sensors and make updates to hardware in the field; access to this page requires a username and password.
  • Map of sensors shows the distribution of sensors around Queensland using Microsoft Virtual Earth.
  • Data analysis allows the user to access tagged data in the Workbench and provides analysis tools that show statistics such as the Acoustic Health Quality Index (AHQI) of an environment.
Mobile phone

The example below demonstrates a key attribute of the sensor data page: the ability to listen to and visualise a recording acquired using sensors in the field.  In the recording below, a male and female koala interact on St Bees Island (interaction starts about 1:25 into the 2 minute recording).

Lewin's Rail researcher, Jennifer Gibson, with Richard Mason