Observations and models of across-wind flight speed of the wandering albatross
Wandering albatrosses exploit wind shear by dynamic soaring (DS), enabling rapid, efficient, long-range flight. We compared the ability of a theoretical nonlinear DS model and a linear empirical model to explain the observed variation of mean across-wind airspeeds of GPS-tracked wandering albatrosse...
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsos.211364 2024-09-15T18:40:27+00:00 Observations and models of across-wind flight speed of the wandering albatross Richardson, Philip L. Wakefield, Ewan D. UK Natural Environment Research Council Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution emeritus fund 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211364 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.211364 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsos.211364 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Royal Society Open Science volume 9, issue 11 ISSN 2054-5703 journal-article 2022 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211364 2024-08-05T04:35:21Z Wandering albatrosses exploit wind shear by dynamic soaring (DS), enabling rapid, efficient, long-range flight. We compared the ability of a theoretical nonlinear DS model and a linear empirical model to explain the observed variation of mean across-wind airspeeds of GPS-tracked wandering albatrosses. Assuming a flight trajectory of linked, 137° turns, a DS cycle of 10 s and a cruise airspeed of 16 m s −1 , the theoretical model predicted that the minimum wind speed necessary to support DS is greater than 3 m s −1 . Despite this, tracked albatrosses were observed in flight at wind speeds as low as 2 m s −1 . We hypothesize at these very low wind speeds, wandering albatrosses fly by obtaining additional energy from updrafts over water waves. In fast winds (greater than 8 m s −1 ), assuming the same 10 s cycle period and a turn angle (TA) of 90°, the DS model predicts mean across-wind airspeeds of up to around 50 m s −1 . In contrast, the maximum observed across-wind mean airspeed of our tracked albatrosses reached an asymptote at approximately 20 m s −1 . We hypothesize that this is due to birds actively limiting airspeed by making fine-scale adjustments to TAs and soaring heights in order to limit aerodynamic force on their wings. Article in Journal/Newspaper Wandering Albatross The Royal Society Royal Society Open Science 9 11 |
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Open Polar |
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The Royal Society |
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crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Wandering albatrosses exploit wind shear by dynamic soaring (DS), enabling rapid, efficient, long-range flight. We compared the ability of a theoretical nonlinear DS model and a linear empirical model to explain the observed variation of mean across-wind airspeeds of GPS-tracked wandering albatrosses. Assuming a flight trajectory of linked, 137° turns, a DS cycle of 10 s and a cruise airspeed of 16 m s −1 , the theoretical model predicted that the minimum wind speed necessary to support DS is greater than 3 m s −1 . Despite this, tracked albatrosses were observed in flight at wind speeds as low as 2 m s −1 . We hypothesize at these very low wind speeds, wandering albatrosses fly by obtaining additional energy from updrafts over water waves. In fast winds (greater than 8 m s −1 ), assuming the same 10 s cycle period and a turn angle (TA) of 90°, the DS model predicts mean across-wind airspeeds of up to around 50 m s −1 . In contrast, the maximum observed across-wind mean airspeed of our tracked albatrosses reached an asymptote at approximately 20 m s −1 . We hypothesize that this is due to birds actively limiting airspeed by making fine-scale adjustments to TAs and soaring heights in order to limit aerodynamic force on their wings. |
author2 |
UK Natural Environment Research Council Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution emeritus fund |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Richardson, Philip L. Wakefield, Ewan D. |
spellingShingle |
Richardson, Philip L. Wakefield, Ewan D. Observations and models of across-wind flight speed of the wandering albatross |
author_facet |
Richardson, Philip L. Wakefield, Ewan D. |
author_sort |
Richardson, Philip L. |
title |
Observations and models of across-wind flight speed of the wandering albatross |
title_short |
Observations and models of across-wind flight speed of the wandering albatross |
title_full |
Observations and models of across-wind flight speed of the wandering albatross |
title_fullStr |
Observations and models of across-wind flight speed of the wandering albatross |
title_full_unstemmed |
Observations and models of across-wind flight speed of the wandering albatross |
title_sort |
observations and models of across-wind flight speed of the wandering albatross |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211364 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.211364 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsos.211364 |
genre |
Wandering Albatross |
genre_facet |
Wandering Albatross |
op_source |
Royal Society Open Science volume 9, issue 11 ISSN 2054-5703 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211364 |
container_title |
Royal Society Open Science |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
11 |
_version_ |
1810484764364242944 |