Abstract
BackgroundWind farms have shown a spectacular growth during the last 15 years. Avian mortality through collision with moving rotor blades is well-known as one of the main adverse impacts of wind farms. In Spain, the griffon vulture incurs the highest mortality rates in wind farms.Methodology/Principal FindingsAs far as we know, this study is the first attempt to predict flight trajectories of birds in order to foresee potentially dangerous areas for wind farm development. We analyse topography and wind flows in relation to flight paths of griffon vultures, using a scaled model of the wind farm area in an aerodynamic wind tunnel, and test the difference between the observed flight paths of griffon vultures and the predominant wind flows. Different wind currents for each wind direction in the aerodynamic model were observed. Simulations of wind flows in a wind tunnel were compared with observed flight paths of griffon vultures. No statistical differences were detected between the observed flight trajectories of griffon vultures and the wind passages observed in our wind tunnel model. A significant correlation was found between dead vultures predicted proportion of vultures crossing those cells according to the aerodynamic model.ConclusionsGriffon vulture flight routes matched the predominant wind flows in the area (i.e. they followed the routes where less flight effort was needed). We suggest using these kinds of simulations to predict flight paths over complex terrains can inform the location of wind turbines and thereby reduce soaring bird mortality.
Highlights
An increase in the number of wind farms is currently in progress across the world [1]
Griffon vulture flight routes matched the predominant wind flows in the area. We suggest using these kinds of simulations to predict flight paths over complex terrains can inform the location of wind turbines and thereby reduce soaring bird mortality
A total of 28 griffon vultures were found dead in the 33 turbines of the row (0.088/turbine/year)
Summary
An increase in the number of wind farms is currently in progress across the world [1]. Spain is the world’s third largest wind energy market with 16.8 GW of installed electric generation capacity [3]. Wind farms can affect birds mainly through fatal collisions with turbine blades [4,5,6,7] or through disturbance displacement [1,8]. There is a high level of uncertainty when predicting the number of potential avian fatalities at proposed wind power developments [14]. Avian mortality through collision with moving rotor blades is well-known as one of the main adverse impacts of wind farms. In Spain, the griffon vulture incurs the highest mortality rates in wind farms
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