Abstract
A multi-wavelength lidar system was used to detect free-flying birds passing over Athens, Greece. The location is strategically located in one of the important migratory corridors for birds migrating between Europe and Africa. Multiwavelength aerosol lidars are operated regularly across Europe in the frame of EARLINET. Here, the feasibility of using this existing infrastructure for assessing fluxes of migratory birds is explored. The backscattered lidar signals were detected at three elastic bands and one Raman band. The monitoring was extended over a period of three months covering predominantly the summer and early autumn period during which approximately 100 hours of lidar data was gathered.
Highlights
Bird migration is a global seasonal phenomenon, engaging billions of birds transporting themselves between distant locations used for breeding and wintering [1]
It is desirable to be able to identify migrants in flight. Their movements can be affected by climate change [3], and as such the study of bird migration is of interest from a migration ecological point of view, but can shed light on other large-scale phenomena
Since a major part of the migration flights take place at night and at altitudes of several km, bird migration is a challenging subject to study in detail
Summary
Bird migration is a global seasonal phenomenon, engaging billions of birds transporting themselves between distant locations used for breeding and wintering [1]. It is desirable to be able to identify migrants in flight Their movements can be affected by climate change [3], and as such the study of bird migration is of interest from a migration ecological point of view, but can shed light on other large-scale phenomena. The EARLINET comprises 27 regularly operated lidar systems across Europe, each with at least three elastic bands, and a majority with several Raman channels [8]. Many of these systems are located inside or close to common migratory corridors of birds [1], and it is of interest to investigate the potential of utilizing these existing lidar systems parasitically for the classification of migratory birds
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