46The Military Engineer l November-December l 2009 rently stable to increasing. Efforts have been initiated to remove the endan- gered listing of the gray bat or possibly downgrade it to the less severe threat- ened status, which would eliminate many of the restrictions on Army lands. However, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has judged that existing census techniques are inadequate to accurately assess population trends to consider delisting or downlisting the gray bat. The USACE Threatened and Endan- gered Species Research Program, man- aged at ERDCs Construction Engineer- ing Research Laboratory, is developing more accurate and reliable techniques to conduct censuses of the gray bat. Thermal infrared imaging equipment takes heat pictures by measuring the heat-based radiant energy emitted from objects, in this case, the gray bat. A newly-developed technique for digi- tal image processing of thermal imag- ery known as Thermal Target Tracker (T3) is the most reliable way to detect and track gray bats emerging from ma- ternity caves during the summer. The bats are quite warm and can be viewed against cold backgrounds such as cave walls or the sky when in ?ight. The T3 technique involves several data collection steps followed by au- tomated digital image processing. The thermal camera is typically a low-cost, uncalibrated camera used for surveil- lance applications. Custom ERDC-de- veloped software captures the digital imagery and performs image differenc- ing between adjoining frames of imag- ery to accurately count the number of gray bats emerging from a cave, even though a ?ight of bats may consist of hundreds or thousands of individuals. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is extremely interested in using the T3 technique to assess the gray bat population. At their request, ERDC researchers conducted a weeklong class on the technique for 18 wildlife profes- sionals at Ozark Underground Labora- tory, Mo. While the T3 technique works well counting bats in ?ight, it has many po- tential other applications as well. ERDC has demonstrated its use for monitor- ing traf?c ?ow at an intersection and lighted drogues moving through a ?ow- ing hydraulic model. Other potential applications may include other moving wildlife studies, such as birds in ?ight, ?sh in test ?umes and even pedestrian monitoring. (For more information, contact Bruce Sabol, bruce.m.sabol@usace.army.mil) Submit Technology News items with high-resolution (300-dpi) electronic im- ages, to Jill M. Jackson, M.SAME, at tech- news@same.org. Technology News (continued) The Infrastructure Security Partnership 2009 Annual Infrastructure & Regional Resilience Conference Dec. 9-10, 2009 • Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center on Lake Grapevine • Grapevine, Texas With an information-packed agenda of workshops, training courses and networking events the TISP 2009 Annual Infrastructure & Regional Resilience (AIRR) Conference is the perfect event to get the timely information you need. Topics will include: TISP 2009 AIRR Conference is a must attend event for critical infrastructure resilience leaders, infrastructure owners and operators, state and local homeland security of?cials, policy makers, response and recovery coordinators, and other industry professionals. Register Today • Successful Regional Strategies to CIP • Interdependence of Various Critical Infrastructure Assets and Industries • Resilience of Transportation, Energy, Dams & Levees, Cyber Infrastructure and IT Systems • Local, Regional and National Goals for Safety, Security, and Resilience • Latest Emergency Operations and Management Solutions…and more. To register online for the TISP 2009 Annual Infrastructure & Regional Resilience Conference, go to www.tisp.org. www.tisp.org Online Registration closes Nov. 27, 2009