Aeroecology meets aviation safety: Early warning Systems in Europe and the Middle East to prevent collisions between birds and aircraft

Abstract

The aerosphere is utilized by billions of birds, moving for different reasons and from short to great distances spanning tens of thousands of kilometres. The aerosphere, however, is also utilized by aviation creating increasing conflicts in and around airfields as well as en-route. Collisions between birds and aircraft cost billions of euros annually and, in some cases, result in the loss of human lives. Simultaneously, aviation has diverse negative impacts on wildlife. During avian migration, due to the sheer numbers of birds in the air, the risk of bird strikes becomes particularly acute especially for military aviation. Over the last few decades, air forces across Europe and the Middle East have been developing solutions that integrate ecological research and aviation policy to reduce mutual negative interactions between birds and aircraft. The aims of this study are (1) to provide a brief overview of the systems currently used in aviation to monitor bird migration movements in the aerosphere, (2) to estimate their impact and effectiveness in bird strike avoidance, and (3) to show the integral role of operational weather radar networks. We compare systems in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland and Israel, areas that are crossed twice a year by huge fluxes of Palearctic migrants. We focus mainly on en-route conflicts and migration forecast systems. In addition, we describe how civil aviation can benefit from these military developments. We conclude by showing the roles of operational weather radar networks, forecast models and international and interdisciplinary collaboration to create safer skies for aviation and birds.