Project settings

Modified on Mon, 1 Jun at 5:59 AM

This article provides detail on the settings available for a project on the WildObs Image Platform (the Platform).

For more information on creating a project, visit Create a project on the WildObs Image Platform.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Navigate to settings
Project settings
Sampling design settings
Deployment defaults
Annotation settings
Other settings

Navigate to settings

Project settings open after adding a new project. From elsewhere within an existing project, navigate to the Project settings using the left side menu by clicking "Settings". Project settings appear under the sub-menu "General". All other options under the "Settings" sub-menu, such as "Behaviour" and "Individuals" relate to lists of features that can be selected throughout deployment and observation creation.

Project settings

Settings for a project describe:

how the project appears and functions on the Platform,
how media files can be uploaded,
how deployment uploads are processed, and;
who the main contacts for the project are.

Note: Settings that restrict types of access to project assets or locations are not affected by, or change the Data sharing terms agreed with WildObs. Please ensure the most appropriate settings are selected for your project.

Name

Descriptive title for your project. This human-readable label will be used as the dataset title when a persistent identifier (RAiD) is created that can be cited in research publications. The project title should clearly and concisely describe the scope of the camera trap survey. It will appear as the primary human-readable identifier in the WildObs Database, the ALA dataset portal, and in any generated citations. Include the focal species or habitat, the geographic region, and approximate time period where possible. For example, "Long-term bettong monitoring across two mountain ranges in the Wet Tropics, FNQ (2020-2022)". Included in the Camtrap DP export https://camtrap-dp.tdwg.org/metadata/#title.

Location

Project location plots the project on a map under the project overview tab. Is not exported with the Camtrap DP dataset and does not have to match with the project's actual sampling area.

Description

A plain-language description or abstract describing the research project that appears on the project overview. This description will appear in the published dataset record and should be written to be understood by a broad scientific audience. Include information about the study objectives, the geographic area, the target species or ecological question, the sampling design, and any key methodological details (e.g. bait use, survey duration, camera placement). Included in the Camtrap DP export https://camtrap-dp.tdwg.org/metadata/#description

Image

Optional image to distinguish the project on the projects page and overview page. A URL to this image is included in the Camtrap DP export https://camtrap-dp.tdwg.org/metadata/#image, more information available at https://specs.frictionlessdata.io/data-package/#image.

Restricted images

When datasets are exported, a URL link is created to media files referenced in the package. This setting controls whether the project’s assets can be accessed publicly by using their URLs. When checked, image URLs in data exports will not be accessible to external users and will require authentication by an user that have access to the project. Sequences that contain one or more images with humans always require authentication.

Restricted locations

This option refers to locations that are created for and linked to deployments (not the project location above). Restricting locations controls the visibility of locations by users in the project. When unchecked, deployment locations can be seen by all project members. When checked, users with the roles photo processor or volunteer will only see the locations for their own deployments. For more information on roles, see Project roles and permissions.

Deployments are assigned

By default, all users (except view-only) can annotate any deployments within the project. If you would like to have control over which user can annotate specific deployments, enable this setting. Principal investigators and project coordinators can then assign deployments to users. Users with the role volunteer or photo processor can only annotate deployments assigned to them or deployments they upload themselves. Principal investigators and project coordinators can see what deployments are assigned to them, but can still annotate all deployments at all times.

Nextcloud uploads enabled

Enable this setting to allow uploads using the WildObs instance of Nextcloud. For more information on Nextcloud and how it works, visit Upload images using Nextcloud.

PI

Set to the Principal Investigator of, or person coordinating, the research project. This can be the same as the Contact. If you have not added any other users to your project, only your user name will appear here.

Contact

Set to the person responsible for this project. This can be the same as the PI. If you have not added any other users to your project, only your user name will appear here. All contributors, and their roles (for example, Principal Investigator or Contact) are included in the Camtrap DP export https://camtrap-dp.tdwg.org/metadata/#contributors.

Organisation

Set this to the organisation running the project. Before adding a new organisation by typing, please search thoroughly to ensure your organisation is not already listed. For example, for a Queensland government organisation, search for QLD, Queensland or department name. Organisations are considered rights holders of the data entered to the Platform.

Sampling design settings

These settings describe project-level design considerations and can be left blank if they are not general to all deployments.

Baits

Select none, one or more baits used in the project. The options (Food, Visual, No bait, Other bait, Acoustic and Scent) are a controlled list defined as part of the Camtrap DP standard.

Quiet period

If cameras are set to be inactive for some time after each trigger, enter the number of seconds this is set for.

Sampling design

Select the sampling design used in your project. The options are a controlled list defined as part of the Camtrap DP standard. See https://camtrap-dp.tdwg.org/metadata/#project.samplingDesign.

Deployment defaults

These settings allow for automatic population of some fields when adding a new deployment manually. If a default is added, it can still be edited for each deployment. This is a useful place to set the most commonly used values for deployments.

Default UTC offset

Set a time zone for new deployments to automatically populate the UTC offset for each deployment when adding manually. The time zone can still be adjusted for each deployment. If your location observes daylight saving time you can adjust the time zone to match. The description for each time zone is indicative only, and not exhaustive.

Detection distance

Maximum distance at which the camera can reliably detect activity entered in cm. Typically measured by having a human move in front of the camera. See https://camtrap-dp.tdwg.org/data/#deployments.detectionDistance.

Camera height

Height at which the camera was deployed entered in cm. See https://camtrap-dp.tdwg.org/data/#deployments.cameraHeight.

Camera heading

Angle at which the camera was deployed in the horizontal plane. Entered in cardinal directions on the Platform. See https://camtrap-dp.tdwg.org/data/#deployments.cameraHeading.

Camera tilt

Angle at which the camera was deployed in the vertical plane. Expressed in degrees, with -90 facing down, 0 horizontal and 90 facing up. See https://camtrap-dp.tdwg.org/data/#deployments.cameraTilt.

Coordinate uncertainty

Horizontal distance from the given latitude and longitude describing the smallest circle containing the deployment location. Entered in meters. See https://camtrap-dp.tdwg.org/data/#deployments.coordinateUncertainty. For more information on how WildObs obscures locations of sensitive species, visit Sensitive species data obscuring.

Bait

Select a single bait type. The options (Food, Visual, No bait, Other bait, Acoustic and Scent) are a controlled list defined as part of the Camtrap DP standard.

Annotation settings

These settings describe the features available when creating sequences from uploaded media and annotating images.

Annotate timelapses

When checked, annotation of timelapses is allowed. Timelapses cannot be annotated when sequences have been added.

Calibration and tracking

Deployment calibration is a special mode used when recording animal tracks for density estimation. When checked, this feature is enabled. This functionality is in development.

Sequence cut-off

This setting controls the division of images into sequences. If the time between subsequent images is equal to or smaller than the sequence cut-off, the images are put in the same sequence. If the time difference is greater than this setting, a new sequence is started. The default setting of 120 seconds works well for most projects. If you are uploading a series of images you know are not part of a sequence or do not want processed as a sequence (such as for AI model benchmarking), set the sequence cut-off to zero seconds to ensure each image becomes it's own sequence. When sequences are created, they are allocated a unique identifier that is exported with observations as eventID https://camtrap-dp.tdwg.org/data/#observations.eventID.

⚠️Sequence cut-off cannot be changed after a deployment has been added to the project. Please ensure the correct value is selected when creating the project.

Automatic annotation

Select an AI model to process deployments. Annotation by AI model can be set to run on a deployment two ways. If a model is selected at this setting, an "Annotate by AI" button will appear for an existing deployment ready for annotation. Alternatively, annotation by AI can be set to run automatically when adding a new deployment by enabling "Automatically with new photo series" in the below setting and selecting "AI processing - Send deployment to AI" on the deployment when adding. During validation and manual annotation, other models can be run on individual sequences.

Automatically with new photo series

This setting allows for deployments to be automatically annotated using the selected AI model when they are added. It enables the "AI processing - Send deployment to AI" feature on deployments.

Other settings

These settings can be accessed by selecting "Settings" in the left side menu, then selecting the desired setting from the sub-menu that appears.

Behaviour

Define behaviours for the project with a name and description. These behaviours are available during annotation. You can select none, one or multiple behaviours for each observation. All behaviors are exported in the observations: https://camtrap-dp.tdwg.org/data/#observations.behavior.

Individuals

Define individuals for the project with a name, species, age, sex and notes. Individuals are allocated a unique identifier and are exported with observations as individualID https://camtrap-dp.tdwg.org/data/#observations.individualID.

Deployment tags

Add tags here that can be used to organise and group deployments. Each deployment can have none, one or multiple tags linked to it. You can use tags to group deployments by habitat type, treatment, paired placements etc. See https://camtrap-dp.tdwg.org/data/#deployments.deploymentTags.

Habitats

Define habitats for the project with a short characterisation of the deployment locations. See https://camtrap-dp.tdwg.org/data/#deployments.habitat.

Deployment groups

Define groups to organise deployments within the project. Deployment groups can have a spatial (arrays, grids, clusters), temporal (sessions, seasons, months, years) or other context. See https://camtrap-dp.tdwg.org/data/#deployments.deploymentGroups.