Sharing the Aerosphere: Conflicts and Potential Solutions

Abstract

As our use of the aerosphere is increasing, so too are the conflicts that arise between our activities and those of aerial wildlife. As a result, numerous stakeholders are interested in monitoring, modelling and forecasting the aerial movements of animals in the context of anthropogenic impacts. Birds can pose a serious threat to aviation, resulting in delays, damage to aircraft, lost flight hours and even the loss of lives. Military and civil aviation use a range of measures to monitor the movements of birds and to try and reduce the risk of wildlife strikes. Increasingly, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are sharing an already crowded airspace, although just how problematic this may become remains to be seen. The wind energy industry, another important stakeholder, may pose serious threats for aerial wildlife, due to collisions with turbines, or the extra energetic costs and risks entailed with avoiding wind farms. Similarly, other tall structures pose a threat for aerial wildlife. In this chapter, we describe the nature of these different conflicts and provide an overview of the factors that influence the risk associated with aerial movement. We also describe how movement is being studied to provide essential information for these different stakeholders and discuss several

Revealing patterns of nocturnal migration using the European weather radar network

“…In extension, these large-scale findings will have many important practical applications, related to the flow of biomass (Hu et al 2016) at a continental scale, including the transport of nutrients, energy and pathogens (Bauer and Hoye 2014), the risk imposed by migrating birds to aircraft (van Gasteren et al 2019), potential implications for conservation of birds during cross-country flight as they pass through tall anthropogenic structures (wind-turbines, communication towers, etc.) (Hüppop et al 2006, Shamoun-Baranes et al 2017) and on the ground while stopping to rest and refuel (Buler et al 2007, Hüppop et al 2019. Importantly, our findings can serve as a benchmark and useful reference point for the large amounts of individual migration tracks that are being collected for some species (Tøttrup et al 2012, Arlt et al 2015, Åkesson et al 2016, and also to put other data, such as local bird counts or ringing recoveries, into a larger context.…”

“…From a conservation perspective, it is important to identify major flyways, migratory strategies and crucial stopover areas (for example before the birds cross wide ecological barriers), to be able to pinpoint areas in extra need of protection (BirdLife International 2010). From a perspective of human safety, large-scale migration information can improve military and civil aviation safety (Shamoun-Baranes et al 2017) and provide a basis for mapping and predicting the spread of pests and disease vectors (Bauer et al 2017). However, the sheer magnitude of migratory movements, both in terms of numbers of animals involved and the spatial and temporal scales over which this process takes place, creates logistic, technical and technological challenges to map migration and to reliably quantify its main properties.…”

Aeroecology meets aviation safety: early warning systems in Europe and the Middle East prevent collisions between birds and aircraft

“…1067 m). This skewed altitude distribution with relatively more bird strikes at lower altitudes corresponds to the average yearly bird density distributions in NW-Europe (Shamoun- Baranes et al 2017b, Bruderer et al 2018. This indicates that military en-route flights sample the airspace equally, with the exception of the lowest 500 ft class, which is only flown on low-level flight routes.…”

“…The latter only briefly cross the low altitudes, where birds generally fly (Bruderer et al 2018), to reach their much higher cruising altitude. As a result, military bird strikes show a bimodal distribution along aircraft speeds (van Gasteren et al 2012, Shamoun-Baranes et al 2017b. Because kinetic energy increases exponentially with aircraft speed, the risk of damage is much higher during lowlevel flight than during take-off or landing, when aircraft are flying much more slowly (Eschenfelder 2005, Dennis and Lyle 2008, Hedayati and Sadighi 2016.…”

Taking radar aeroecology into the 21st century

“…Utilizing weather radar networks in conjunction would enable us to compare migration patterns across flyways, characterise world-wide trends in migratory populations and identify threats from global factors. Increasingly scientists will have at their fingertips the tools they need to address societal issues and find science based solutions for how animals and humans can jointly and sustainably utilize the aerial environment (Davy et al 2017, Shamoun-Baranes et al 2017b. We have experienced first-hand the advantages of international and interdisciplinary collaboration to make such tools more accessible and compatible.…”