Weather Radar and its Application to Ornithology

On April 29, 2000 a symposium entitled Weather Radar and its Application to Ornithology was presented at the Combined Meeting of the Wilson Ornithological Society and the Association of Field Ornithologists, and hosted by the Houston Audubon Society and the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory at Galveston, Texas.

The goal of the symposium was to identify the current state of knowledge on the application of weather radar to ornithology and its practical applications to field biology and bird conservation. To this end a number of individuals were asked to present their current studies in this area. The agenda, and information on two additional papers by individuals who were invited to present but were unable to attend the Galveston meeting, is given below. Clicking on the presentation will yield an abstract of the paper and links to additional material if available.

Agenda

1:00 pm - Welcome and Introductions: Daphne Gemmill, NOAA, and John Black, Physics Department, Brock University.

1:10 pm - Evolution of Weather Radar Use for Ornithology. Ronald P. Larkin, Illinois Natural History Survey.

1:20 pm - The Observation of Birds on the NEXRAD WSR-88D: An Overview. Tim O'Bannon, National Weather Service Operational Support Facility, Norman, OK.

1:40 pm - Application of Weather Radar to Monitoring Numbers of Birds in Migration. John Black, Professor of Physics, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.

2:00 pm - Classic Examples of Nocturnal Migration Liftoff Using the Des Moines WSR-88D. Karl Jungbluth, National Weather Service Forecast Office, Des Moines, IA.

2:20 pm - Ground Truthing the Location and Bird Species Composition. Ronald P. Larkin and Robert Diehl, Illinois Natural History Survey.

2:40 pm - Use of the Home PC in the Identification and Tracking of Broadwing Hawks. Frank S. Peace, Houston, TX.

3:00 pm - Break

3:20 pm - BirdCast: Using Weather Radar, Nocturnal Flight Call Monitoring, and Citizen Ground Truthing to Identify Migration Events. Steve Kelling, Director of BirdSource Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology

3:40 pm - The Avian Hazard Advisory System (AHAS): Operational Use of Weather Radar for Reducing Bird Strike Risk in North America. T. Adam Kelly, United States Air Force.

4:00 pm - "Problems in Interpreting Base Reflectivity: Weather, Birds, Insects, Anomalous Propagation." Panel Discussion led by Tim O'Bannon, National Weather Service Operational Support Facility, and Ronald P. Larkin, Illinois Natural History Survey.

4:20 pm - Questions and Discussion: Speakers and Audience

5:00 pm - Wrap-up: Where Do We Go From Here? Ronald P. Larkin, Illinois Natural History Survey.

Additional Papers: