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

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4.1 MCAS CHERRY POINT<br />

Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point (MCASCP; 34°54'11.19"N, 76°53'16.20"W; Figure 4-2)<br />

is located along the coastal plain in Craven County, North Carolina, near the town of Havelock.<br />

MCASCP is roughly 90 miles (145 km) west-southwest of Cape Hatteras at the foot of the great<br />

Outer Banks. With an area of 5330 ha on the air station proper, MCASCP is the world's largest<br />

Marine Corps Air Station. It is home to the 2 nd Marine Aircraft Wing <strong>and</strong> to Marine Air Group<br />

14, the primary East Coast operating unit for the Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier (four squadrons)<br />

<strong>and</strong> EA-6B Prowler (four squadrons). The Air Station also host to four squadrons of KC-130<br />

tankers <strong>and</strong> an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) squadron.<br />

Figure 4-2. MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, showing the location of the eBirdRad radar<br />

(RT-1) <strong>and</strong> the visual team (VT) observation sites used in the spring 2007 (’07) <strong>and</strong> fall 2008<br />

(’08) studies.<br />

We selected MCASCP as an <strong>IVAR</strong> study location because it is a large air station <strong>and</strong> it had two<br />

operational eBirdRad units that were being used to fulfill multiple research objectives. It was<br />

being used there to monitor waterfowl movements in the vicinity of the airfield <strong>and</strong> had been<br />

used to detect two previously unrecorded patterns of movements near dawn of large flocks of<br />

waterfowl <strong>and</strong> Double-crested Cormorants. The USDA/WS staff at MCASCP was also using the<br />

radar to observe known Wood Duck roosting areas during morning departure flights from the<br />

roost <strong>and</strong> to monitor waterfowl movements on the Neuse River during the winter months. In<br />

addition, the USDA/WS staff was comparing the data collected by visual observers during their<br />

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