Ecological Research at the Offshore Windfarm alpha ventus: Challenges, Results and Perspectives
Testfeldforschung zum Vogelzug am Offshore-Pilotpark „alpha ventus“
Transcript of Testfeldforschung zum Vogelzug am Offshore-Pilotpark „alpha ventus“
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour Migrating birds and offshore wind turbines: How to reduce collisions and avoidance behaviour?
Avitec Research Reinhold Hill, Katrin Hill, Ralf Aumüller, Karin Boos & Sabine Freienstein
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Projected offshore wind farms in the German EEZ
2003
2009
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
ca. 120 m Ø
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Photo: K. F. Jachmann
Bird migration at FINO-platforms
• When, where, who and under which conditions?
When: annual and diurnal migration patterns
Where: flight altitudes, heading, regional differences
Who: species spectra, migration intensity, abundances
Which conditions: local weather parameters
Effects of wind turbines on migrating birds ?
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Methods of detection
Radar systems: vertical & horizontal
Visual observation: Seawatch
Intensity, time of day, flight-
height profiles, phenology
Acoustic systems: Microphone
Species spectra (at night +
limited), phenology
Intensity, heading, flight-height
profiles, (time of night)
(heading), species spectra
Species spectra (at day),
phenology, intensity, time of
day, heading, height
Height profile > 200 m
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Licht
www.fino-offshore.de
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Effects I – Risk of collision?
When and under which conditions do
(mass-) collisions take place and
what are the causes?
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Effects I: casualties of collision
Since 2003 (FINO1):
• 4 mass-collision events with 88-199 casualties
• Predominantly affected: Thrushes
• Risk of collision mainly during night
• The number of casualties blown away by the wind or eaten by gulls is unknown
Photo: F.K. Jachmann
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Effects I: casualties of collision
Since 2003 (FINO1 and FINO3):
• 1067 dead birds in total found (at 423 helicopter flights)
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
• Collisions at FINO3 are significantly rarer (even without mass collisions
at FINO1)!
Effects I: casualties of collision
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Ho
url
y s
um
s [
call
s/h
]
1./2.11.2010 CET
Cause I: Collision & region ?
• Mainly Thrushes collide at both platforms
• at FINO3 there are almost no Finshes and Pipits, which
can be found regularly at FINO1
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Blackbird Redwing Starling Others
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Blackbird Redwing Starling Others
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Cause I: Collision & region ?
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Cause II: Collision & weather ?
Adverse migration conditions
Upcoming bad weather front
modified after Aumüller et al. 2011
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Cause II: Collision & weather ? W
ind
ve
loc
ity (
m/s
) W
ind
ve
loc
ity (
m/s
)
Win
d d
irec
tio
n (
°)
Win
d d
irec
tio
n (
°) a
nd
vis
ibil
ity (
km
)
Headwind
Tailwind
Headwind
Tailwind
NE
NE
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Illumination of the
name and Jacket with
broadbanded
Halogen-Spotlights
Narrowbanded
Spotlights
No illumination
of the name
Stronger phototaxis? Less phototaxis?
Cause III: Collision & lights ?
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Offshore bird migration
Predisposition:
genetic determination for times of migratory restlessness (species or population specific)
Weather:
Weather conditions affect diurnal and annual migration behaviour, as well as migratory routes.
Result:
There is enormous variability in daily and annual intensities and species composition of migrating birds - within and between years
Non-continuous studies therefore face special difficulties.
Before-after-comparisons are hardly explicable in a causal way.
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Windfarm „alpha ventus“
N
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Seawatch
74 Cormorants
10 Brent Geese
6 Greylag Geese
5 Cormorants
5 Curlew Sandpiper
• So far recorded: migration intensity
(Ind./h) and behavioural deviations
• Result: high interannual variabilty,
limited data for avoidance behaviour
• New: standardised methods for
viewing direction :
4 sectors á 90 viewed per hour
• Advantage: differences in species
numbers, -frequencies and heading in
wind farm affected and unaffected
sectors, respectively.
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Directions of observation
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Directions of observation
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Avian diversity differs strongly depending on
observational direction
(ANOVA, F3,60 = 11,84; p < 0.001)
Wind farm affected areas are clearly avoided
by migrating birds
(wind farm affected areas = low shares of diversity
Wind farm un-affected areas = high shares of diversity)
Effects II: avoidance behaviour
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Taxa-specific avoidance behaviour
Gannet – Morus bassanus
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Taxa-specific avoidance behaviour
Terns – Sternidae
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Taxa-specific avoidance behaviour Auks - Alcidae
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Taxa-specific avoidance behaviour
Passerines – Passeriformes
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Avoidance behaviour
Abundance (%) per direction in sectors
< 3 km > 3 -10 km
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
• most migrating birds seem to avoid wind farms at
daylight and good visibility – very few collisions are to
be expected
• but we have to be careful during the planning process in
order to prevent dead ends with possible higher collision
rates
• it seems to be possible to calculate detours for the birds
and therefore to get a measure for cumulative effects
Avoidance behaviour
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
• there are still open questions and a lack of
knowledge and therefore we have to collect
more data and improve the methods
• we have to use fewer lights and less light
intensity in order to prevent phototaxis and
collisions
• there is a need to develop lights with
minimized attraction to birds (AVILUX)
• we have to develop an early warning system
in order to shut down the turbines in nights of
mass migration in low altitudes
Conclusions
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour Thank you
for your attention and
to all supporting partners !
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Hill et al. Collision mitigation and avoidance behaviour
Ongoing research project AVILUX aims to
find “bird friendly“ colours for safety lights
Contact: [email protected]