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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2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211364 https://doaj.org/article/a0f63cbb5d794953b4c1b34c158216e7 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a0f63cbb5d794953b4c1b34c158216e7 2023-06-11T04:17:30+02:00 Observations and models of across-wind flight speed of the wandering albatross Philip L. Richardson Ewan D. Wakefield 2022-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211364 https://doaj.org/article/a0f63cbb5d794953b4c1b34c158216e7 EN eng The Royal Society https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.211364 https://doaj.org/toc/2054-5703 doi:10.1098/rsos.211364 2054-5703 https://doaj.org/article/a0f63cbb5d794953b4c1b34c158216e7 Royal Society Open Science, Vol 9, Iss 11 (2022) wandering albatross GPS tracking dynamic soaring wind shear airspeed flight trajectory Science Q article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211364 2023-04-23T00:35:37Z 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 Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Royal Society Open Science 9 11 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
wandering albatross GPS tracking dynamic soaring wind shear airspeed flight trajectory Science Q |
spellingShingle |
wandering albatross GPS tracking dynamic soaring wind shear airspeed flight trajectory Science Q Philip L. Richardson Ewan D. Wakefield Observations and models of across-wind flight speed of the wandering albatross |
topic_facet |
wandering albatross GPS tracking dynamic soaring wind shear airspeed flight trajectory Science Q |
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. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Philip L. Richardson Ewan D. Wakefield |
author_facet |
Philip L. Richardson Ewan D. Wakefield |
author_sort |
Philip L. Richardson |
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 |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211364 https://doaj.org/article/a0f63cbb5d794953b4c1b34c158216e7 |
genre |
Wandering Albatross |
genre_facet |
Wandering Albatross |
op_source |
Royal Society Open Science, Vol 9, Iss 11 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.211364 https://doaj.org/toc/2054-5703 doi:10.1098/rsos.211364 2054-5703 https://doaj.org/article/a0f63cbb5d794953b4c1b34c158216e7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211364 |
container_title |
Royal Society Open Science |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
11 |
_version_ |
1768376739427254272 |