Abstract
The number of collision fatalities is one of the main quantification measures for research concerning wind power impacts on birds and bats. Despite being integral in ongoing investigations as well as regulatory approvals, the state-of-the-art method for the detection of fatalities remains a manual search by humans or dogs. This is expensive, time consuming and the efficiency varies greatly among different studies. Therefore, we developed a methodology for the automatic detection using visual/near-infrared cameras for daytime and thermal cameras for nighttime. The cameras can be installed in the nacelle of wind turbines and monitor the area below. The methodology is centered around software that analyzes the images in real time using pixel-wise and region-based methods. We found that the structural similarity is the most important measure for the decision about a detection. Phantom drop tests in the actual wind test field with the system installed on 75 m above the ground resulted in a sensitivity of 75.6% for the nighttime detection and 84.3% for the daylight detection. The night camera detected 2.47 false positives per hour using a time window designed for our phantom drop tests. However, in real applications this time window can be extended to eliminate false positives caused by nightly active animals. Excluding these from our data reduced the false positive rate to 0.05. The daylight camera detected 0.20 false positives per hour. Our proposed method has the advantages of being more consistent, more objective, less time consuming, and less expensive than manual search methods.
Highlights
All bat and many wild bird species are protected by EU directives because they are threatened
There is significant evidence that birds [4] and bats [5,6] are systematically killed by wind turbines due to the turning rotor
An uncertainty of our design is the way real bats and birds die after a collision with the wind turbine
Summary
All bat and many wild bird species are protected by EU directives because they are threatened. The bats are all listed in Annex IV and II of the Habitats Directive [1] This means that member states must undergo steps to maintain, restore and possibly enlarge their natural population [2]. There is significant evidence that birds [4] and bats [5,6] are systematically killed by wind turbines due to the turning rotor. They are either hit or suffer from barotrauma because of the quick pressure changes produced by the rotor blades [7]. It is important to keep in mind that the climate crisis itself endangers these species, though in a different manner
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