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- It’s true. Weather radar images show where radar beams have been “reflected” as they sweep the atmosphere. They’re useful for showing weather conditions because the beams are reflected by precipitation and the water vapor in clouds, but they can also be reflected by swarming masses of birds or insects.
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It’s true. Weather radar images show where radar beams have been “reflected” as they sweep the atmosphere. They’re useful for showing weather conditions because the beams are reflected by precipitation and the water vapor in clouds, but they can also be reflected by swarming masses of birds or insects.
Real-time analysis maps show intensities of actual nocturnal bird migration as detected by the US weather surveillance radar network between local sunset to sunrise. All graphics are relative to the Eastern time zone.
- More Than Weather
- …But, How Do We Know These Are Birds?
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Radar, an acronym for radio detection and ranging, was originally developed to detect enemy aircraft in World War II. As the decades have passed, it has become a valuable tool for studying all kinds of objects in the atmosphere. One of radar’s most common applications is the detection of meteorological events—especially thunderstorms, tornados, and...
Equipped with computing power and advanced radar technology, we can begin to provide detailed data on avian activity in the atmosphere
The BirdCast team, along with other radar ornithologists, uses a broad array of tools to make sense of a treasure trove of information collected by radars about birds, such as migration density, flight speed, and direction. Our data are not complete, though. Many advances in radar technology have aided in our abilities to differentiate birds from r...
See real-time analysis maps of intensities of actual nocturnal bird migration, as detected by the US weather surveillance radar network between local sunset to sunrise. Cornell Lab of Ornithology currently produces these maps.
Dec 23, 2018 · However, the range of this effect is <200 ft, so a weather radar can't be relied on to prevent bird strikes. It's also not well-studied and not verified across a wide range of species. The beam might also completely miss the birds due to scanning. So it's not a reliable bird deterrent.
Apr 21, 2022 · Within 20 minutes of lighting up, up to 16,000 birds crammed themselves into a half-kilometer radius. But when the lights flicked off, the dense clouds of birds on the radar screen dissipated just as fast, a finding later confirmed by on-site thermal cameras.
Sep 24, 2014 · A radar loop would actually show the circular pattern becoming larger with time before dissipating as the birds fly up and outward. NWS meteorologist Michael Gorse told me by email that these...
