We explore non-supervised methodologies to classify animal movement behaviour based on tri-axial accelerometry data in the context of the Icarus Initiative.
Global data about animal movements are indispensable in our today international networked world to understand how to safe human health and wildlife simultaneously. To remedy the worldwide lack of knowledge about the distribution and the individual migratory habits of small animals and insects, an international consortium of scientists got the ICARUS (International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space) project underway in 2002 (http://icarusinitiative.org/about-icarus). The goal of the ICARUS Initiative is to observe global migratory movements of small animals through a satellite system. With the data generated by ICARUS, scientists expect revolutionary new insights about life, behavior, vital functions and death of the animals on our planet. The globally collected data allows us among other things conclusions for the spread of diseases (zoonosis), understanding of climate change and disaster forecast. The research results to be expected here are of invaluable importance for mankind and finally for life on earth.