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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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:0523f73ae5e44429bcdb8b77125bcd56 2023-05-15T16:09:54+02:00 Diving-flight aerodynamics of a peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus). Benjamin Ponitz Anke Schmitz Dominik Fischer Horst Bleckmann Christoph Brücker 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0086506 https://doaj.org/article/0523f73ae5e44429bcdb8b77125bcd56 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3914994?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0086506 https://doaj.org/article/0523f73ae5e44429bcdb8b77125bcd56 PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 2, p e86506 (2014) Medicine R Science Q article 2014 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0086506 2022-12-31T12:46:30Z 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 Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLoS ONE 9 2 e86506 |
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Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Benjamin Ponitz Anke Schmitz Dominik Fischer Horst Bleckmann Christoph Brücker Diving-flight aerodynamics of a peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus). |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
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 |
Benjamin Ponitz Anke Schmitz Dominik Fischer Horst Bleckmann Christoph Brücker |
author_facet |
Benjamin Ponitz Anke Schmitz Dominik Fischer Horst Bleckmann Christoph Brücker |
author_sort |
Benjamin Ponitz |
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 |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0086506 https://doaj.org/article/0523f73ae5e44429bcdb8b77125bcd56 |
genre |
Falco peregrinus peregrine falcon |
genre_facet |
Falco peregrinus peregrine falcon |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 2, p e86506 (2014) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3914994?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0086506 https://doaj.org/article/0523f73ae5e44429bcdb8b77125bcd56 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0086506 |
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PLoS ONE |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
e86506 |
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