Quantitative ornithology with a commercial marine radar: standard‐target calibration, target detection and tracking, and measurement of echoes from individuals and flocks

• Published in: Methods in Ecology and Evolution
• Main Authors: Urmy, Samuel S., Warren, Joseph D.
• Other Authors: Parrini, Francesca, Frank M. Chapman Memorial Fund of the AMNH
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2016
• Subjects: Sterna hirundo
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.12699; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2F2041-210X.12699; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/2041-210X.12699; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/2041-210X.12699; https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/2041-210X.12699

Summary Marine surveillance radars are commonly used for radar ornithology, but they are rarely calibrated. This prevents them from measuring the radar cross‐sections (RCS) of the birds under study. Furthermore, if the birds are aggregated too closely for the radar to resolve them individually, the...