Monitoring colonial seabirds with commercial marine radars

Abstract: Small marine radars have been used for many years to study birds, bats, and insects. Though almost all of these studies have been terrestrial, radar has a number of compelling advantages as a method for studying seabirds, especially at colonies. Marine radars are inexpensive and robust, an...

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Main Author: 3rd World Seabird Conference 2021
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Underline Science Inc. 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.48448/rb07-2t95
https://underline.io/lecture/34778-monitoring-colonial-seabirds-with-commercial-marine-radars
id ftdatacite:10.48448/rb07-2t95
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spelling ftdatacite:10.48448/rb07-2t95 2023-05-15T15:56:21+02:00 Monitoring colonial seabirds with commercial marine radars 3rd World Seabird Conference 2021 2021 https://dx.doi.org/10.48448/rb07-2t95 https://underline.io/lecture/34778-monitoring-colonial-seabirds-with-commercial-marine-radars unknown Underline Science Inc. Animal Science Ornithology Emerging Technologies MediaObject article Conference talk Audiovisual 2021 ftdatacite https://doi.org/10.48448/rb07-2t95 2022-02-09T11:22:26Z Abstract: Small marine radars have been used for many years to study birds, bats, and insects. Though almost all of these studies have been terrestrial, radar has a number of compelling advantages as a method for studying seabirds, especially at colonies. Marine radars are inexpensive and robust, and can be set up to record automatically. Radar can detect and track both aggregations and individual birds with high resolution, and can operate in darkness and fog. It does not require telemetry devices, and can thus track the movements of an entire population rather than a small number of tagged animals. Despite these advantages, monitoring seabird colonies with radar involves a number of challenges. The detection range is limited to a few km, and radar reflections from the sea surface are a persistent source of interference and false detections. In general, species identification is not possible from radar data alone. And while it is possible to track hundreds of birds at once with a single radar, the data processing involved is non-trivial. I will present techniques and lessons learned from a radar study of a common tern (Sterna hirundo) colony in New York, USA in 2014-15, illustrating the challenges and capabilities of radar monitoring in this context. I will also discuss future possibilities for this technology, including both technological developments and applications for science and conservation. Despite their limitations, radars provide a view of seabird behavior unavailable with other technologies, and can play a unique and important role in the future of seabird ecology. Authors: Samuel Urmy¹ ¹Stony Brook University Article in Journal/Newspaper Common tern Sterna hirundo DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology)
institution Open Polar
collection DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology)
op_collection_id ftdatacite
language unknown
topic Animal Science
Ornithology
Emerging Technologies
spellingShingle Animal Science
Ornithology
Emerging Technologies
3rd World Seabird Conference 2021
Monitoring colonial seabirds with commercial marine radars
topic_facet Animal Science
Ornithology
Emerging Technologies
description Abstract: Small marine radars have been used for many years to study birds, bats, and insects. Though almost all of these studies have been terrestrial, radar has a number of compelling advantages as a method for studying seabirds, especially at colonies. Marine radars are inexpensive and robust, and can be set up to record automatically. Radar can detect and track both aggregations and individual birds with high resolution, and can operate in darkness and fog. It does not require telemetry devices, and can thus track the movements of an entire population rather than a small number of tagged animals. Despite these advantages, monitoring seabird colonies with radar involves a number of challenges. The detection range is limited to a few km, and radar reflections from the sea surface are a persistent source of interference and false detections. In general, species identification is not possible from radar data alone. And while it is possible to track hundreds of birds at once with a single radar, the data processing involved is non-trivial. I will present techniques and lessons learned from a radar study of a common tern (Sterna hirundo) colony in New York, USA in 2014-15, illustrating the challenges and capabilities of radar monitoring in this context. I will also discuss future possibilities for this technology, including both technological developments and applications for science and conservation. Despite their limitations, radars provide a view of seabird behavior unavailable with other technologies, and can play a unique and important role in the future of seabird ecology. Authors: Samuel Urmy¹ ¹Stony Brook University
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author 3rd World Seabird Conference 2021
author_facet 3rd World Seabird Conference 2021
author_sort 3rd World Seabird Conference 2021
title Monitoring colonial seabirds with commercial marine radars
title_short Monitoring colonial seabirds with commercial marine radars
title_full Monitoring colonial seabirds with commercial marine radars
title_fullStr Monitoring colonial seabirds with commercial marine radars
title_full_unstemmed Monitoring colonial seabirds with commercial marine radars
title_sort monitoring colonial seabirds with commercial marine radars
publisher Underline Science Inc.
publishDate 2021
url https://dx.doi.org/10.48448/rb07-2t95
https://underline.io/lecture/34778-monitoring-colonial-seabirds-with-commercial-marine-radars
genre Common tern
Sterna hirundo
genre_facet Common tern
Sterna hirundo
op_doi https://doi.org/10.48448/rb07-2t95
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