Diving-flight aerodynamics of a peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus)
This study investigates the aerodynamics of the falcon Falco peregrinus while diving. During a dive peregrines can reach velocities of more than 320 km h⁻¹. Unfortunately, in freely roaming falcons, these high velocities prohibit a precise determination of flight parameters such as velocity and acce...
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ftcityunivlondon:oai:openaccess.city.ac.uk:12938 2023-07-02T03:32:11+02:00 Diving-flight aerodynamics of a peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) Ponitz, B. Schmitz, A. Fischer, D. Bleckmann, H. Brücker, C. 2014-02-05 text https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/12938/ https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/12938/1/Diving-flight%20aerodynamics%20of%20a%20peregrine%20falcon%20%28Falco%20peregrinus%29.pdf http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0086506 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0086506 en eng PLoS https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/12938/1/Diving-flight%20aerodynamics%20of%20a%20peregrine%20falcon%20%28Falco%20peregrinus%29.pdf Ponitz, B., Schmitz, A., Fischer, D. , Bleckmann, H. Brücker, C. https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/view/creators_id/christoph=2Ebruecker.html view all authorsEPJS_limit_names_shown_load( 'creators_name_12938_et_al', 'creators_name_12938_rest' ); (2014). Diving-flight aerodynamics of a peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus). PLoS ONE, 9(2), pp. 1-13. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0086506 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0086506 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0086506 cc_by_4_0_ipl TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) Article PeerReviewed 2014 ftcityunivlondon https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0086506 2023-06-13T18:32:47Z This study investigates the aerodynamics of the falcon Falco peregrinus while diving. During a dive peregrines can reach velocities of more than 320 km h⁻¹. Unfortunately, in freely roaming falcons, these high velocities prohibit a precise determination of flight parameters such as velocity and acceleration as well as body shape and wing contour. Therefore, individual F. peregrinus were trained to dive in front of a vertical dam with a height of 60 m. The presence of a well-defined background allowed us to reconstruct the flight path and the body shape of the falcon during certain flight phases. Flight trajectories were obtained with a stereo high-speed camera system. In addition, body images of the falcon were taken from two perspectives with a high-resolution digital camera. The dam allowed us to match the high-resolution images obtained from the digital camera with the corresponding images taken with the high-speed cameras. Using these data we built a life-size model of F. peregrinus and used it to measure the drag and lift forces in a wind-tunnel. We compared these forces acting on the model with the data obtained from the 3-D flight path trajectory of the diving F. peregrinus. Visualizations of the flow in the wind-tunnel uncovered details of the flow structure around the falcon's body, which suggests local regions with separation of flow. High-resolution pictures of the diving peregrine indicate that feathers pop-up in the equivalent regions, where flow separation in the model falcon occurred. Article in Journal/Newspaper Falco peregrinus peregrine falcon City University London: City Research Online PLoS ONE 9 2 e86506 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
City University London: City Research Online |
op_collection_id |
ftcityunivlondon |
language |
English |
topic |
TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) |
spellingShingle |
TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) Ponitz, B. Schmitz, A. Fischer, D. Bleckmann, H. Brücker, C. Diving-flight aerodynamics of a peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) |
topic_facet |
TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) |
description |
This study investigates the aerodynamics of the falcon Falco peregrinus while diving. During a dive peregrines can reach velocities of more than 320 km h⁻¹. Unfortunately, in freely roaming falcons, these high velocities prohibit a precise determination of flight parameters such as velocity and acceleration as well as body shape and wing contour. Therefore, individual F. peregrinus were trained to dive in front of a vertical dam with a height of 60 m. The presence of a well-defined background allowed us to reconstruct the flight path and the body shape of the falcon during certain flight phases. Flight trajectories were obtained with a stereo high-speed camera system. In addition, body images of the falcon were taken from two perspectives with a high-resolution digital camera. The dam allowed us to match the high-resolution images obtained from the digital camera with the corresponding images taken with the high-speed cameras. Using these data we built a life-size model of F. peregrinus and used it to measure the drag and lift forces in a wind-tunnel. We compared these forces acting on the model with the data obtained from the 3-D flight path trajectory of the diving F. peregrinus. Visualizations of the flow in the wind-tunnel uncovered details of the flow structure around the falcon's body, which suggests local regions with separation of flow. High-resolution pictures of the diving peregrine indicate that feathers pop-up in the equivalent regions, where flow separation in the model falcon occurred. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ponitz, B. Schmitz, A. Fischer, D. Bleckmann, H. Brücker, C. |
author_facet |
Ponitz, B. Schmitz, A. Fischer, D. Bleckmann, H. Brücker, C. |
author_sort |
Ponitz, B. |
title |
Diving-flight aerodynamics of a peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) |
title_short |
Diving-flight aerodynamics of a peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) |
title_full |
Diving-flight aerodynamics of a peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) |
title_fullStr |
Diving-flight aerodynamics of a peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Diving-flight aerodynamics of a peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) |
title_sort |
diving-flight aerodynamics of a peregrine falcon (falco peregrinus) |
publisher |
PLoS |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/12938/ https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/12938/1/Diving-flight%20aerodynamics%20of%20a%20peregrine%20falcon%20%28Falco%20peregrinus%29.pdf http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0086506 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0086506 |
genre |
Falco peregrinus peregrine falcon |
genre_facet |
Falco peregrinus peregrine falcon |
op_relation |
https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/12938/1/Diving-flight%20aerodynamics%20of%20a%20peregrine%20falcon%20%28Falco%20peregrinus%29.pdf Ponitz, B., Schmitz, A., Fischer, D. , Bleckmann, H. Brücker, C. https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/view/creators_id/christoph=2Ebruecker.html view all authorsEPJS_limit_names_shown_load( 'creators_name_12938_et_al', 'creators_name_12938_rest' ); (2014). Diving-flight aerodynamics of a peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus). PLoS ONE, 9(2), pp. 1-13. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0086506 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0086506 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0086506 |
op_rights |
cc_by_4_0_ipl |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0086506 |
container_title |
PLoS ONE |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
e86506 |
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1770271693654196224 |