HiRAD is a BioDivERsa funded research project that has emerged from the prior bioDivERsa-funded research project GloBAM. Within HiRAD, we improve the access, harmonization, visualization, and integration of biological data from small-scale and weather radars across Europe. Using harminozed radar products, we will demonstrate the value of radar data in monitoring aerial biodiversity (specifically the interaction of birds and insects with biotic and abiotic factors) and create radar-based tools for various stakeholders.


Setup of HiRAD’s work-packages and coordination boards, the major tasks within work-packages.

Brief characterisation of complementary radar systems – small-scale and weather radars.

Principle of weather (left) and small-scale (right) radars, the ecological information that can be derived from them and how this ecological information contributes to several essential biodiversity variables.




Setup of HiRAD’s work-packages and coordination boards, the major tasks within work-packages.
Brief characterisation of complementary radar systems – small-scale and weather radars.
Principle of weather (left) and small-scale (right) radars, the ecological information that can be derived from them and how this ecological information contributes to several essential biodiversity variables.




Harmonizing and integrating Radar-based approaches for monitoring Aerial bioDiversity
Details
Projektziele
Vorgehen
HiRAD will:
- Provide access to biological data products derived from radar data across Europe (WP1)
- Develop and improve tools for the visualization, exploration and analysis of radar data (WP2)
- Harmonize data from different radar systems (WP3)
- Demonstrate their capacity for biodiversity monitoring of birds and insects (WP4)
- Provide data products and tools for stakeholders (WP5)
Bedeutung
Trillions of birds and insects use the airspace for key activities of their life cycle, such as daily foraging movements and seasonal migrations. Their movements link otherwise separated ecosystems, raise human-wildlife conflicts, and provide services and disservices that are relevant to human agriculture, economy, and health. Remote sensing technologies such as radar can provide detailed information on aerial biodiversity, including the intensity, timing, altitude, and spatial scale of mass movements, for the full range of taxa and all individuals passing through the sensor’s measurement range. The greatest challenges for establishing weather- and small-scale radars as a standardized monitoring system of the airspace are the currently scattered distribution of radar data, biodiversity data products and software tools and the diverse formats of radar data and biodiversity products. In HiRAD, we will address these challenges, demonstrate the value of radar data in monitoring aerial biodiversity.
Projektpartner
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL: Silke Bauer
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL: Elske Tielens
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam (UvA): Judy Shamoun-Baranes
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam (UvA): Bart Kranstauber
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam (UvA): Bart Hoekstra
- Agroscope: Eva Knop
- Agroscope: Benjamin Rutschmann
- Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO): Peter Desmet
- Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO): Pieter Huybrechts
- Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI): Nadja Weisshaupt
- Météo-France: Thibault Desert
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Andrew Farnsworth
- Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR): Isabel Metz
- Lund University: Cecilia Nilsson
- Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF): Hans van Gasteren
- Swiss BirdRadar Solutions AG (SBRS): Felix Liechti
- Swiss BirdRadar Solutions AG (SBRS): Dominik Kleger
Financial support
- Biodiversa
- Swiss National Science Foundation
Publications
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2023.0116
https://doi.org/10.1002/rse2.397
https://doi.org/10.1002/rse2.423
https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0196.1
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9146
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15433
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abi4680
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2021.0194
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13101989
https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.04083
https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.04003
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11192233
https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/bix074
https://doi.org/10.1186/2051-3933-2-9
Employees



Trade publications
2022
Europe and the West African savannas Bruderer, B. & D. Peter, 2022
Contact: info@vogelwarte.ch
License: zenodo-freetoread-1.0
doi-Link: doi.org
Contact: bruno.bruderer@vogelwarte.ch
2021
Contact: info@vogelwarte.ch
License: zenodo-freetoread-1.0
doi-Link: doi.org
Contact: bruno.bruderer@vogelwarte.ch
Bird Migration
We research migratory birds from their breeding grounds to Africa and lay the foundations for their protection beyond national borders.