New Wildlife Tag Enabling Animal Tracking Using Weather Radar
The availability of a bird or bat tracking system that uses a preexisting sensor network is a highly desirable capability, especially where cost, design, and operational constraints severely limit the application of GPS, geolocator, and other wildlife tags.
The nations system of weather radars readily detects flying birds, bats, and insects. Owing to the manner by which these radars quantify echoes, an individual object/target (e.g., a raindrop, a bird, a bat, a plane) cannot be tracked through space and time, either within a single radar coverage area or, at larger scales, as those objects move between different radar coverages. This project is working to develop a novel animal tag detectable by weather radar. Such a system will allow for the tracking of individuals across multiple radar coverages, providing information on continental-scale movements (e.g., migration). The approach uses RFID technology to introduce a subtle signal into the radar Doppler velocity product that would not interfere with normal radar operations and yet allow individual animals to be tracked across wide areas. The approach may also have applications in flight safety by enabling the long distance tracking of unmanned aerial vehicles.
The availability of a bird or bat tracking system that uses a preexisting sensor network is a highly desirable capability, especially where cost, design, and operational constraints severely limit the application of GPS, geolocator, and other wildlife tags.
The nations system of weather radars readily detects flying birds, bats, and insects. Owing to the manner by which these radars quantify echoes, an individual object/target (e.g., a raindrop, a bird, a bat, a plane) cannot be tracked through space and time, either within a single radar coverage area or, at larger scales, as those objects move between different radar coverages. This project is working to develop a novel animal tag detectable by weather radar. Such a system will allow for the tracking of individuals across multiple radar coverages, providing information on continental-scale movements (e.g., migration). The approach uses RFID technology to introduce a subtle signal into the radar Doppler velocity product that would not interfere with normal radar operations and yet allow individual animals to be tracked across wide areas. The approach may also have applications in flight safety by enabling the long distance tracking of unmanned aerial vehicles.