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

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3.1.1.2.1 Automates Real-Time Tracking of Radar Echoes [PA1.2]<br />

Digital avian radars are relatively new technology <strong>and</strong> few of the potential end-users will have had<br />

any practical experience with this technology. We designed this qualitative criterion to examine<br />

two fundamental questions about the capabilities of the Accipiter® digital radar processor (DRP)<br />

use in the <strong>IVAR</strong> (<strong>and</strong> CEAT) studies. First, how well can the DRP track targets with well-defined<br />

flight dynamics To evaluate this question, we used software to generate simulated targets with<br />

known flight dynamics similar to birds. We set as our success criterion that the demonstration<br />

would have achieved its objective if the targets displayed on the screen of the DRP matched the<br />

flight dynamics of the synthetic targets in the input data files.<br />

The goal of the second questions was to demonstrate whether the DRP can faithfully reproduce<br />

the plan position display of analog radar systems with which radar ornithologists are quite<br />

familiar. Here we directed the same raw analog signal from an operating X-b<strong>and</strong> marine radar<br />

into the input of both an older analog BirdRad avian radar <strong>and</strong> a newer digital eBirdRad avian<br />

radar. This demonstration would be judged to be successful if the digital display of the scenes<br />

closely matched the analog display of the same scenes.<br />

3.1.1.2.2 Provides Reduced Clutter Compared To Analog Radar [PA2.2]<br />

The antennas of avian radars are oriented close to horizontal in order to detect low-flying birds,<br />

<strong>and</strong> consequently, radar echoes from the ground, buildings, <strong>and</strong> other stationary objects (i.e.,<br />

“ground clutter”) are a serious problem that can adversely affect the ability of the DRP to detect<br />

<strong>and</strong> track targets. To demonstrate the Accipiter® DRP can remove ground clutter from a scene<br />

while still detecting <strong>and</strong> tracking targets in that scene, we compared the images generated by the<br />

DRP when: A) The clutter suppression algorithms were turned off; B) the clutter suppression<br />

algorithms were turned on <strong>and</strong> the targets were “tracked” using the analog “true trails” display;<br />

<strong>and</strong> C) the clutter suppression algorithms were turned on <strong>and</strong> the targets were tracked digitally by<br />

the DRP. The would be judged successful if targets that were visible in the cluttered display<br />

were still visible in the uncluttered displays, targets that were not visible in the cluttered display<br />

were visible in the uncluttered displays, <strong>and</strong> all of these targets were tracked in the digital<br />

display.<br />

3.1.2 Sampling Protocols<br />

Performance criteria in this category were designed to demonstrate that the digital avian radar<br />

systems evaluated by the <strong>IVAR</strong> project collect the types of data users require <strong>and</strong> can do so<br />

under the operating conditions that can be expected to be encountered at military facilities.<br />

3.1.2.1 Quantitative Performance Criteria<br />

The performance objectives discussed in the following subsections were designed to evaluate<br />

sampling protocols quantitatively. That is, the Success Criteria were defined as a numeric<br />

quantity against which the results of testing the radar system could be evaluated.<br />

3.1.2.1.1 Monitors <strong>and</strong> Records Bird Tracks 24/7 [PB1.1]<br />

A principal advantage of radar as a tool for sampling bird populations is its ability to operate<br />

continuously, day <strong>and</strong> night, collecting data under a wide range of environmental conditions.<br />

We designed Criterion PB1.1 to demonstrate this capability to sample continuously in the<br />

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