Flight paths of seabirds soaring over the ocean surface enable measurement of fine-scale wind speed and direction
Flight paths of seabirds soaring over the ocean surface enable measurement of fine-scale wind speed and direction
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.1523853113
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发表时间：
2016-07
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Y. Yonehara;Yusuke Goto;K. Yoda;Y. Watanuki;Lindsay Young;H. Weimerskirch;C. Bost;Katsufumi Sato
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Y. Yonehara;Yusuke Goto;K. Yoda;Y. Watanuki;Lindsay Young;H. Weimerskirch;C. Bost;Katsufumi Sato
监测海面风对了解海洋与大气的相互作用和天气预报至关重要。然而，卫星散射计和浮标测量的风在空间和时间上都很粗糙，特别是在沿海地区。我们在翱翔的海鸟身上安装了小型全球定位系统，记录它们的飞行轨迹。海鸟在飞行过程中，尾风会加速，逆风会减慢，所以它们的飞行速度会随着风速和风向而变化。利用这些飞行速度的变化，我们可靠地估计了海鸟所经历的风速和风向。通过翱翔的海鸟轨迹观测到的风在时间和空间上都弥补了传统观测的空白，这表明可以将翱翔的海鸟作为一个活的风速计。海洋表面风是理解大气和海洋之间物理相互作用的一个重要因素。卫星散射计和浮标测量的地表风覆盖了全球大部分海洋；然而，仍然存在可能被忽视的空间和时间差距以及更细尺度的风变化，特别是在沿海地区。在这里，我们展示了翱翔的海鸟的飞行路径可以用来估计精细尺度（每5分钟，~ 5公里）的海面风。精细全球定位系统（GPS）的位置数据显示，飙升的海鸟飞行曲折，地面速度波动可能是由于顺风和逆风。利用与飞行方向相关的地面速度差，我们可靠地估计了鸟类所经历的风速和方向。这些基于鸟类的风速与卫星散射计估算的风速显著相关。此外，海鸟广泛的飞行距离和飞行时间使其能够进行大范围的高分辨率风观测，特别是在沿海地区。我们的研究表明，海鸟提供了一个测量海洋表面风的平台，通过覆盖空间和时间的测量空白，有可能补充传统的风测量。
Significance Monitoring ocean surface winds is essential for understanding ocean and atmosphere interactions and weather forecasts. However, wind measured by satellite scatterometers and buoys are spatially and temporally coarse, particularly in coastal areas. We deployed small global positioning system units on soaring seabirds to record their tracks. Seabirds were accelerated by tail winds or slowed down by head winds during flight, so their flight speed changed in relation to wind speed and direction. Taking advantage of these changes in flight speed, we reliably estimated wind speed and direction experienced by the seabirds. The wind observed by soaring seabird’s tracks complemented the conventional observation gaps in terms of both time and space, suggesting the possibility of using soaring seabirds as a living anemometer. Ocean surface winds are an essential factor in understanding the physical interactions between the atmosphere and the ocean. Surface winds measured by satellite scatterometers and buoys cover most of the global ocean; however, there are still spatial and temporal gaps and finer-scale variations of wind that may be overlooked, particularly in coastal areas. Here, we show that flight paths of soaring seabirds can be used to estimate fine-scale (every 5 min, ∼5 km) ocean surface winds. Fine-scale global positioning system (GPS) positional data revealed that soaring seabirds flew tortuously and ground speed fluctuated presumably due to tail winds and head winds. Taking advantage of the ground speed difference in relation to flight direction, we reliably estimated wind speed and direction experienced by the birds. These bird-based wind velocities were significantly correlated with wind velocities estimated by satellite-borne scatterometers. Furthermore, extensive travel distances and flight duration of the seabirds enabled a wide range of high-resolution wind observations, especially in coastal areas. Our study suggests that seabirds provide a platform from which to measure ocean surface winds, potentially complementing conventional wind measurements by covering spatial and temporal measurement gaps.