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Master Thesis - FS2017
Quantification of Migratory Birds using LiDAR
Renewable energies as a clean energy source become more and more important, while wind energy for power supply is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. As renewable energies compared to conventional energy sources have lower power density, their spatial requirements are higher and consequently their environmental influence in space. Every year during bird migrating season, when 5 billion birds migrate between Europe and Africa, birds die from collision with wind turbines.
In on-going research at LEC a simulation tool to predict the broad front migration of migratory birds is being developed. In a recent project it has been demonstrated that LEC’s mobile LiDAR Scanning System can be used to simultaneously measure the wind field and bird abundance. The goal of this Master Thesis is to improve the measurement technique and measure bird abundance in airspace and to compare birds’ flight strategy with environmental conditions to come up with an assessment of birds’ migration behaviour.
Hence this Master Thesis shall include the following tasks:
• Improvement of the LIDAR-based measurement of bird abundance accounting for effective laser volume, absorption/reflectivity of feathers, etc.
• Identification of bird type (size, colour, airspeed, wingbeat pattern) and removal of insect measurements
• Field measurements of bird abundance and wind field during spring migration • Comparison of LiDAR-based measurement with reference radar measurements of
bird abundance for assessment of birds’ migration behaviour
Addressed to students interested in renewable energies, physics of laser technique, programming as well as field measurements with LiDAR. This project comprises 40% improvement of measurement technique, 40% field measurements with mobile LiDAR Scanning System, 20% data processing and analysis.
Contact: Annika Aurbach, Institut für Energietechnik, LEC, ETH Zürich, ML J 24, Sonneggstrasse 3, CH-8092 Zürich, T: +41 44 276 99, E: [email protected]
