Open AccessReconstructing Velocities of Migrating Birds from Weather Radar — A Case Study in Computational Sustainability
Author(s) -
Farnsworth Andrew,
Sheldon Daniel,
Geevarghese Jeffrey,
Irvine Jed,
Van Doren Benjamin,
Webb Kevin,
Dietterich Thomas G.,
Kelling Steve
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
ai magazine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.597
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 2371-9621
pISSN - 0738-4602
DOI - 10.1609/aimag.v35i2.2527
Subject(s) - radar , bird migration , meteorology , weather radar , scale (ratio) , remote sensing , geography , environmental science , computer science , telecommunications , geology , cartography , paleontology
Bird migration occurs at the largest of global scales, but monitoring such movements can be challenging. In the United States there is an operational network of weather radars providing freely accessible data for monitoring meteorological phenomena in the atmosphere. Individual radars are sensitive enough to detect birds, and can provide insight into migratory behaviors of birds at scales that are not possible using other sensors. Archived data from the WSR‐88D network of U.S. weather radars hold valuable and detailed information about the continent‐scale migratory movements of birds over the last 20 years. However, significant technical challenges must be overcome to understand this information and harness its potential for science and conservation. We describe recent work on an AI system to quantify bird migration using radar data, which is part of the larger BirdCast project to model and forecast bird migration at large scales using radar, weather, and citizen science data.