On the Design of a Bioacoustic Sensor for the Early Detection of the Red Palm Weevil

Abstract

During the last two decades Red Palm Weevil (RPW, Rynchophorus Ferrugineus) has become one of the most dangerous threats to palm trees in many parts of the World. Its early detection is difficult, since palm trees do not show visual evidence of infection until it is too late for them to recover. For this reason the development of efficient early detection mechanisms is a critical element of RPW pest management systems. One of the early detection mechanisms proposed in the literature is based on acoustic monitoring, as the activity of RPW larvae inside the palm trunk is audible for human operators under acceptable environmental noise levels (rural areas, night periods, etc.). In this work we propose the design of an autonomous bioacoustic sensor that can be installed in every palm tree under study and is able to analyze the captured audio signal during large periods of time. The results of the audio analysis would be reported wirelessly to a control station, to be subsequently processed and conveniently stored. That control station is to be accessible via the Internet. It is programmed to send warning messages when predefined alarm thresholds are reached, thereby allowing supervisors to check on-line the status and evolution of the palm tree orchards. We have developed a bioacoustic sensor prototype and performed an extensive set of experiments to measure its detection capability, achieving average detection rates over 90%.

Discriminant Analysis as a Tool for Detecting the Acoustic Signals of Termites Coptotermes Curvignathus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)

“…The FP case is when the actual result has an uninfested conclusion, but the predicted result gives an infested conclusion. To calculate the accuracy (AC) and the apparent error (APER) of the predicted results assessed by the classification model, Equations 9 and 10 are used respectively (Rach et al, 2013). …”

“…On the other hand, there are various alternatives to acoustic sensors to detect termites; for example, geophones, piezo disks, piezo probes, accelerometers, microphones, microwave radar and piezo film (Mankin et al, 2011). Rach et al (2013) suggest the use of an electret microphone sensor for insect detection within wood, since this type of sensor is more sensitive to vibration. Therefore, our research on termite detection uses an electret microphone sensor.…”

A Comparison Study of Kernel Functions in the Support Vector Machine and Its Application for Termite Detection

“…Some researchers reported that specific activity, namely eating, excavation and head-banging would generate the particular acoustic signal [10,11]. Over the last decade, the application of microphones has been successful to detect insects within wood [12][13][14] and to solve various engineering problems [15][16][17][18][19]. Therefore, in this study, we used the microphone electret sensor to sense the acoustic signal produced by termites.…”

Members of the WRKY gene family are upregulated in Canary palms attacked by Red Palm Weevil

“…Until now, different methods have been experienced to identify early signs of infestations, such as the use of bioacoustics sensors (Martínez-Rach et al 2013). Chemical sensors have been tried to analyse early volatiles produced by RPW-attacked trees using trained dogs (Nakash et al 2000;Suma et al 2013).…”