Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 113, Issue 32, Pages 9039-9044Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1523853113
Keywords
biologging; dynamic soaring; satellite scatterometer; GPS; meteorology
Categories
Funding
- Tohoku Ecosystem-Associated Marine Science
- Bio-Logging Science, The University of Tokyo
- Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science [24241001, 16J09325]
- French Polar Institute (IPEV: programme) [109]
- French Southern Territories administration (TAAF)
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [16H06535, 16J09325, 26304029, 16K21735] Funding Source: KAKEN
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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, similar to 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.
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