High-Resolution Modeling of Uplift Landscapes can Inform Micrositing of Wind Turbines for Soaring Raptors

• Published in: Environmental Management
• Main Authors: Hanssen, Frank, May, Roel, Nygård, Torgeir
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Springer US 2020
• Subjects: Article; Hitra; Haliaeetus albicilla
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7434798/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32577874; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-020-01318-0

Collision risk of soaring birds is partly associated with updrafts to which they are attracted. To identify the risk-enhancing landscape features, a micrositing tool was developed to model orographic and thermal updraft velocities from high-resolution remote sensing data. The tool was applied to the island of Hitra, and validated using GPS-tracked white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla). Resource selection functions predicted that eagles preferred ridges with high orographic uplift, especially at flight altitudes within the rotor-swept zone (40–110 m). Flight activity was negatively associated with the widely distributed areas with high thermal uplift at lower flight altitudes (<110 m). Both the existing wind-power plant and planned extension are placed at locations rendering maximum orographic updraft velocities around the minimum sink rate for white-tailed eagles (0.75 m/s) but slightly higher thermal updraft velocities. The tool can contribute to improve micrositing of wind turbines to reduce the environmental impacts, especially for soaring raptors.