Bird movements aro - International Bird Strike Committee

adar in avoidance systems
In figure 6 the curves of figure 1 are combined with attitudtnat ranges ot b rd
control: en foute, around and on anpons. Avoiding birds in the air is difftc!h
because many bird movements occur betow rhe coverage of most tong range
surveilance radars {stippted) and just above the acquisition .ange of rh; visual
observer (shaded). To make ir even worse. tow tevet btd fying activtry is oflen
in big flocks as food rinding is a very sociat affair, especia y i; wefland a.eas
where water rabte dynamics creares a ftuctuating and palchy availabitiry of
food. A thorough map/calendar approach is of course the lirst srep in pianning
new airpo(s or aircrait flying routes. aut this information atone is too static f;r
day-to d€y bkd strike prevention. For each headache species the daity and
seasonal flying partern shoutd be known. In principte a tot of bi.d activity can be
predicted by a dynamic modet fed bV certain environmentat parameters, aut
scientific generalizations are lsua ty not enough to predict how each species w I
adapt to specific localconditions. Additionat rutes of thumb about spatiat fying
behaviour in reation to wearler, topography etc. are neeneo.
l. practice the onty ,rnodets,ihai do exist are very experienced b rd contro|ers
gvinglheir'best profess onatjudgeme.r,_ Howevef, this iype of antictpation is
primarily based on whar can be mentaty reconsrruct€d from visua observarion.
This is usually imlled to rhe a rport itsetf and 10 the towest 5O meters (Buu.m.,
Lensink & Linnartz 1986). Bur even he.e a big bird fock may sudenty appear.
As noi all blrd controtters are eqlalty experienced and atert, and as they cannot
overvrew the whole aiiport, ihere is a gap in tho markel for detecl on devices
oaseo on remote sensrno such as radar.
radar in avoidance systems
The above mentioned gap in the marker is growing surely but s owty as rong as
we are not at)re to quantify rhe bird strike risk betler and to show convincingty
the amo!nr of risk reduction. Air traffic conlro ers do not wish ro accept
addillonal responsibilities when the btrd information is nor very ctearty indicared
and well derined. Obviousty, not every singte smaI or medium sized b rd can
kept under controt. Thus, rhe equ pment shou d be abte 10 tndicate whether the
amount ot bird meat in a cerlatn air vot!me exceeds a ce(ain agfeed vatue.
Figufe 6 is a propos:lro reduce the many options or apptying remole senstng
into three altitude/scate ctasses on the basts of rhe spaital disrribution oi b rd
slrikes. ls!ggesr the fotowng terminotogy,
A. 2-D on airoort bird flock deteciton Certain ground radars do have the
capacity to monitor birds or cou d be adjusred 10 do so {schaefer 1969). Given
the limiled range needed 6tso off-the shelve marine radars with a reptaced
anlenna, to .a ow t\e bear and ircrea\e qdin, mrght be .porred. Ihe n a n
p oD em 6 grou-dctLtrer r"d-cr o1, bJt sopli\r.carFd new techro,ogy is abte to
solve this satisfactority.
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