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

that dataset [Section 6.5.1.3].
5.5 SAMPLING PROTOCOL
The IVAR project developed or modified six methods to gather the data that were used to
evaluate the performance criteria established for avian radar systems. These six methods are
briefly described below; see Appendix B for a detailed description of each method.
Method #1: Validation by Simulation (page 297): This method was a modification of a method
used by ARTI to evaluate the accuracy of target tracking algorithms. We used an in- house
software simulation tool to generate a plot file with sequences of detections that were consistent
with avian target dynamics. The plot file was then replayed through a DRP for off- line reprocessing
(i.e., re-tracking), and the resultant tracks compared with the known dynamics of the
targets generated by the software.
Method #2: Validation By Image Comparison (page 299): This method was used to compare
the analog and digital rendering of the same scene by the BirdRad and eBirdRad radars. It
involved splitting the analog video waveform from a Furuno 2155BB radar operating in the field
at MCAS Cherry Point and feeding the same data stream to both the analog electronics that come
with the Furuno radar and to the Accipiter® digital radar processor (DRP). The two images were
displayed on separate monitors and screen-capture software was used to copy these images for
subsequent visual comparison.
Method #3: Visual Confirmation Of Bird Targets (page 302): This method was developed by
the IVAR project to determine whether the targets being tracked by an avian radar were in fact
birds (i.e., “ground-truthing” the radar targets). It involved deploying two-person teams of
visual observers at different distances and angles from the avian radar during a series of 2-hour
sessions conducted during the morning, mid-day, and evening at the IVAR study locations. The
radar and visual observer teams were in communication with one another via two-way radios.
During the “RT-Calls” scenario the radar team would select a target being tracked by the radar
and radio to the visual team closest to the target the distance, bearing and heading of the target
relative to the visual team’s position, and ask if the visual team could confirm whether the target
was a bird. Other visual teams that could see the target could also call in a confirmations. In the
“VT-Calls” scenario a visual team that observed a bird they thought was in the radar beam could
call the radar team on the radio and give them the target’s distance, bearing and heading from
their position and ask if the radar was tracking that target.
Method #4: Confirmation Of Bird Targets Using Thermal Imaging (page 319): This method
was a modification of methods developed by Gauthreaux and Livingston (2006). We used it to
confirm targets being tracked by the avian radar at night were birds. The equipment included a
vertically-pointing thermal imaging camera and a vertically-pointing X-band radar: The former
was used to identify the heat signatures of biological targets passing above the camera; the latter
was used to measure the height of those targets. This Thermal Imager - Vertically Pointing
Radar (TI-VPR) unit was placed at different distances from the avian radar system and the
recordings of tracks from the TI-VPR were correlated to tracks from the avian radar as its beam
passed over the TI-VPR.
Method #5: Automatic Tracking Of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (page 330): This method was
developed by the CEAT project to measure the accuracy of the longitude, latitude, and height
coordinates computed by the avian radar system for targets it tracks. The method consisted of
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