Thermal-assisted aerial culling
Thermal-assisted aerial operations are generally done in the 2 hours from first light and 1.5 hours before last light each day, weather permitting, when there is the greatest difference in thermal radiation between animals and their surrounding environments (ΔT). When weather is suitable (cool and overcast with high cloud) flights can continue throughout the day. Low-level night-time operations such as shooting are not permitted by the Australian or New Zealand civil aviation authorities.
 Thermal aerial culling comprises a specific crew configuration (a pilot, a shooter who sits opposite the pilot, and a thermal-imager operator who sits behind the shooter) (Fig. 2). All other uses of thermal equipment (e.g., scopes for rifles, or thermal monocular/binoculars) in aircraft in any other crew configuration, we consider a hybrid aerial culling approach.