TY  - JOUR
AU  - Yoshinari Yonehara, Yusuke Goto
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Flight paths of seabirds soaring over the ocean surface enable measurement of fine-scale wind speed and direction
KW  - biologging dynamic soaring GPS meteorology satellite scatterometer
N2  - Ocean surface winds are an essential factor in understanding the physical interactions between the atmosphere and the ocean. Surface winds measured by satellite scatterometers and buoys cover most of the global ocean; however, there are still spatial and temporal gaps and finer-scale variations of wind that may be overlooked, particularly in coastal areas. Here, we show that flight paths of soaring seabirds can be used to estimate fine-scale (every 5 min, ∼5 km) ocean surface winds. Fine-scale global positioning system (GPS) positional data revealed that soaring seabirds flew tortuously and ground speed fluctuated presumably due to tail winds and head winds. Taking advantage of the ground speed difference in relation to flight direction, we reliably estimated wind speed and direction experienced by the birds. These bird-based wind velocities were significantly correlated with wind velocities estimated by satellite-borne scatterometers. Furthermore, extensive travel distances and flight duration of the seabirds enabled a wide range of high-resolution wind observations, especially in coastal areas. Our study suggests that seabirds provide a platform from which to measure ocean surface winds, potentially complementing conventional wind measurements by covering spatial and temporal measurement gaps.
SN  - 0027-8424, 1091-6490
SN  - 0027-8424, 1091-6490
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1523853113
N1  - exported from refbase (http://publi.ipev.fr/polar_references/show.php?record=6631), last updated on Mon, 01 Jul 2024 19:38:09 +0200
ID  - YoshinariYonehara2016
ER  -