Aerial platforms are commonly used for surveying in wildlife research and management to facilitate rapid and cost-effective population estimates. Infrared (IR) thermography uses thermal cameras to capture images from infrared radiation emitted from objects. In the context of aerial sampling techniques, orientation of thermal sensors for use in detecting animals include forward-looking infrared (FLIR; which look forward from aerial vehicles at oblique angles) and vertical-looking infrared (VLIR; which look directly beneath the aircraft). Use of VLIR rather than FLIR sensors may aid in minimizing animal availability errors (i.e., bias) caused by vegetative obstruction because the amount of vegetative or topographical obstruction between the thermal sensor and animal is reduced. Thus, the vendor shall perform aerial (i.e., helicopter) surveys using VLIR thermal imaging to count white-tailed deer in a defined area of several hundred square miles within portions of the following counties: Adams, Boone, Bureau, Carroll, Cook, Dekalb, DuPage, Ford, Grundy, Jo Daviess, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, Livingston, Marshall, McHenry, Ogle, Peoria, Putnam, Stephenson, Will, and Winnebago . These counties have been identified to have deer with Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), a neurological disease of the central nervous system of cervids (i.e., deer, elk, moose) that threatens the long-term health of white-tailed deer (hereafter; deer) populations in Illinois. Where it occurs, CWD has demonstrated an ability to reach high infection levels and spread over large areas that if unmanaged, could potentially reduce deer populations to minimal levels. Aerial surveys provide the required population estimation technique to quantify deer abundance and geographic distribution in the specified areas, which in turn allows biologists to direct disease management efforts and track changes in deer densities over time. Data collected in previous years has been essential for directing field activities and for assessing the effectiveness of disease control measures at reducing localized deer populations in areas of Illinois where CWD has been detected.
