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Estimating fine-scale changes in turbulence using the movements of a flapping flier
,
Michael Quetting,
Baptiste Garde,
Martin Wikelski,
Emily Shepard
Journal of The Royal Society Interface, Volume: 19, Issue: 196
Swansea University Authors:
Manos Lempidakis, Baptiste Garde, Emily Shepard
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© 2022 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
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DOI (Published version): 10.1098/rsif.2022.0577
Abstract
All animals that operate within the atmospheric boundary layer need to respond to aerial turbulence. Yet little is known about how flying animals do this because evaluating turbulence at fine scales (tens to approx. 300 m) is exceedingly difficult. Recently, data from animal-borne sensors have been...
| Published in: | Journal of The Royal Society Interface |
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| ISSN: | 1742-5662 |
| Published: |
The Royal Society
2022
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa62024 |
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| Abstract: |
All animals that operate within the atmospheric boundary layer need to respond to aerial turbulence. Yet little is known about how flying animals do this because evaluating turbulence at fine scales (tens to approx. 300 m) is exceedingly difficult. Recently, data from animal-borne sensors have been used to assess wind and updraft strength, providing a new possibility for sensing the physical environment. We tested whether highly resolved changes in altitude and body acceleration measured onboard solo-flying pigeons (as model flapping fliers) can be used as qualitative proxies for turbulence. A range of pressure and acceleration proxies performed well when tested against independent turbulence measurements from a tri-axial anemometer mounted onboard an ultralight flying the same route, with stronger turbulence causing increasing vertical displacement. The best proxy for turbulence also varied with estimates of both convective velocity and wind shear. The approximately linear relationship between most proxies and turbulence levels suggests this approach should be widely applicable, providing insight into how turbulence changes in space and time. Furthermore, pigeons were able to fly in levels of turbulence that were unsafe for the ultralight, paving the way for the study of how freestream turbulence affects the costs and kinematics of animal flight. |
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| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| Funders: |
E.L., B.G. and E.L.C.S. were supported by the European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme grant 715874 (to E.L.C.S.) and a Max Planck Sabbatical Fellowship to E.L.C.S. We also acknowledge funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy EXC 2117–422037984. |
| Issue: |
196 |