No abstract

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No abstract

Organisms in the aerosphere have been detected by radar since its development in the 1940s. The national network of Doppler weather radars (WSR-88D) in the United States can readily detect birds, bats, and insects aloft. Level-II data from the radar contain information on the reflectivity and radial velocity of targets and on width of the spectrum (SD of radial velocities in a radar pulse volume). Information on reflectivity can be used to quantify density of organisms aloft and radial velocity can be used to discriminate different types of targets based on their air speeds. Spectral width can also provide some useful information when organisms with very different air speeds are aloft. Recent work with dual-polarization radar suggests that it may be useful for discriminating birds from insects in the aerosphere, but more development and biological validation are required.

We examined the relationship between the longitude of peak arrival of trans-Gulf migrants on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico in spring and wind trajectories over the Gulf at three different altitudes (500, 1,500, and 2,500 m above ground level). We used data from 10 WSR-88D radars (weather surveillance radar-1988-Doppler) from Brownsville, Texas, to Key West, Florida, to record the time and longitude of peak arrival on the northern Gulf coast for four spring migrations (2001)(2002)(2003)(2004). We used the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Air Resources Laboratory HYSPLIT transport and dispersion model at the READY Web site to generate backward, 24-h atmospheric trajectories based on archived atmospheric data for each trans-Gulf flight. The trajectories began at the geographic location where radar indicated the greatest concentrations of arriving migrants. Although the longitude of peak arrival varied, peak densities of most trans-Gulf migrants arrived on the northern coast near longitude 95°W. Regression analyses showed that the relationship between the longitude of peak trans-Gulf arrival and the direction of atmospheric trajectory was significant but weak at the 500-m level, where few migrants occurred, and was insignificant for the 1,500-and 2,500-m altitudes, where migrant densities were greater. We conclude that winds aloft over the Gulf have little influence on the longitude of peak trans-Gulf arrival on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and we speculate that the arrival pattern may reflect the transGulf migration pathways that evolved during the Last Glacial Maximum.