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

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7 COST ASSESSMENT<br />

Along with demonstrating <strong>and</strong> validating the application of radar systems at a number of sites, an<br />

important goal of this project was to develop <strong>and</strong> validate, to the extent possible, the expected<br />

operational costs of the technologies. Relevant costs <strong>and</strong> related data as described in this section<br />

are listed <strong>and</strong> documented during the <strong>IVAR</strong> demonstrations so that the operational costs of the<br />

technology can be estimated with a high degree of validity.<br />

In addition to data gathered from the <strong>IVAR</strong> demonstrations, NRM user requirements also<br />

contributed to this section. These requests helped develop the current Accipiter® system <strong>and</strong> its<br />

components. The user requirements derived from these requests are discussed in Section 2.2.<br />

7.1 COST MODEL<br />

The Cost Models presented in Table 7-1 through Table 7-3 list the estimated cost of the<br />

technology <strong>and</strong> methodology tracked throughout the <strong>IVAR</strong> project. The tables present three<br />

system configurations: St<strong>and</strong>alone, Integrated, <strong>and</strong> Advanced. A St<strong>and</strong>alone system includes<br />

components that are necessary for the end-user to track <strong>and</strong> view avian targets. An Integrated<br />

system includes additional products that allow a user to remotely collect, view, store, <strong>and</strong> track<br />

these targets, <strong>and</strong> to remotely control the system. An Advanced system includes additional<br />

components that support viewing the data from multiple systems on a single, fused display.<br />

The capital costs of avian radar systems differ significantly depending upon a number of factors<br />

discussed below. The estimates provided in this section are based on actual experiences during<br />

the <strong>IVAR</strong> <strong>and</strong> CEAT projects, as well as publicly available data, with a view towards<br />

generalizing them so that they might be applicable to products offered from a number of<br />

commercial vendors. All costs are reported in US Dollars.<br />

In its simplest form, an avian radar operates as a St<strong>and</strong>alone system (Table 7-1), which allows a<br />

user to obtain <strong>and</strong> record plot <strong>and</strong> track data from the Avian Radar System, <strong>and</strong> to replay <strong>and</strong><br />

extract those data for analysis. It consists of a COTS marine radar transceiver <strong>and</strong> antenna,<br />

combined with a digital processor that generates detections <strong>and</strong> tracks (referred to as “target<br />

information”). For airport use, the radar transceiver <strong>and</strong> antenna (i.e., the radar sensor) is<br />

typically mounted on a wheeled trailer, on a roof-top, or a small tower structure. The digital<br />

components could be mounted in the trailer or indoors. A local operator would run the radar, or<br />

would visit it periodically to collect recorded target information. Data collection is the result of<br />

the digital processor software processing the radar signals received from the transceiver.<br />

Playback of the digitized data <strong>and</strong> their analysis is accomplished on the TrackViewer workstation<br />

– typically, a laptop computer. The range of purchase costs is determined by whether an existing<br />

structure is used for the installation, a new structure is built, or a trailer is used; whether utilities<br />

are available, must be installed, or the system is to be powered by a<br />

generator; <strong>and</strong> which radar sensor is selected. The cost of commissioning a St<strong>and</strong>alone system is<br />

greater than for the other two configurations because the lack of network connectivity requires<br />

that all activities must be done on-site.<br />

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