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(IVAR) - Final Report - Strategic Environmental Research and ...

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• Data Streaming – store the numerical data generated for each tracked target locally<br />

<strong>and</strong> stream them reliably over a network to real-time or historical applications.<br />

• Data Integration – Combine tracks from independent radars without overlapping<br />

coverages into a common operational picture (COP) that increases situational<br />

awareness.<br />

• Data Fusion – Fuse duplicate tracks from independent radars with overlapping<br />

coverages in real time into common tracks to increase situational awareness <strong>and</strong><br />

track continuity.<br />

The demonstration study sites for the <strong>IVAR</strong> project included: Marine Corps Air Station<br />

Cherry Point, NC; Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD; Naval Air Station Whidbey<br />

Isl<strong>and</strong>, WA; Elmendorf Air Force Base, AK; Sea-Tac International Airport, WA; Edisto<br />

Isl<strong>and</strong>, SC; <strong>and</strong> Accipiter Radar Technologies, Inc., Ontario, Canada.<br />

We developed 31 Performance Metrics to evaluate the five Task Objectives listed above.<br />

One Metric, “Tracks Single Birds <strong>and</strong> Flocks”, was divided into three related metrics, <strong>and</strong><br />

we added a sixth Task Objective “Additional” with five additional metrics. Of the resultant<br />

38 Performance Metrics, 24 were quantitative <strong>and</strong> the other 14 were qualitative.<br />

All 38 Performance Criteria were met or exceeded. The results of those demonstrations are<br />

summarized below.<br />

Automatic Tracking. First we demonstrated that the radar processor could track synthetic,<br />

software-generated targets with known, complex target dynamics. Next, two-person teams<br />

of observers visually confirmed as birds more than 1500 targets tracked by the digital avian<br />

radars during fall <strong>and</strong> spring campaigns at four different geographic locations; we employed<br />

a thermal imager to confirm targets tracked by eBirdRad at night were birds. We also<br />

tracked a remote-controlled helicopter with the radar to check the accuracy of the spatial<br />

coordinates the radar processor generates for each target. <strong>Final</strong>ly, we demonstrated the<br />

radar could track birds at ranges beyond the perimeter of a very large military airfield, could<br />

readily track more than 100 targets simultaneously, <strong>and</strong> could record in real time a host of<br />

parameters for each tracked target.<br />

Sampling Protocols. To illustrate the breadth <strong>and</strong> depth of the radar’s ability to track targets<br />

in realistic operational settings, we demonstrated these systems can track targets<br />

continuously, 24/7 for years, through a complete 360° field-of-view, out to a range of at<br />

least 11 km (6 nautical miles), <strong>and</strong> up to an altitude of ~1 km (3000 feet) – the nominal<br />

bounds for short-range avian radar systems. We further demonstrated the sampling<br />

schedules of these systems can be pre-set or remotely controlled for unattended operations,<br />

<strong>and</strong> that they can detect 50 times more birds than human observers using conventional<br />

visual methods. <strong>Final</strong>ly, we demonstrated that the volume of data generated by these<br />

systems over these time periods fits onto COTS mass storage devices <strong>and</strong> can be displayed<br />

on maps or graphs to show bird activity patterns in time <strong>and</strong> space.<br />

Data Streaming. To demonstrate that the detections (plots) <strong>and</strong> tracks data generated by the<br />

radar can be transmitted across local- or wide-area communications networks to where they<br />

are needed, we transmitted data generated by an avian radar in Seattle more than 3000 km<br />

across the Internet to the ARTI Headquarters in Ontario with no data loss <strong>and</strong> 100%<br />

network uptime. We further demonstrated that these data could be organized into a<br />

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