AI technology helps to track seabirds at Aberdeen Bay OWF

Renewables

United Kingdom – The Aberdeen Bay Offshore Wind Farm has started a fresh trial for tracking seabirds. This time, artificial intelligence (AI) is employed to collect precise data regarding the bird’s movements within the wind farm, Vattenfall informed.

In order to record how seabirds interact with offshore wind turbines, the research will test new technology. The AI system used by Norwegian Spoor has been created to track a bird’s 3D flight route close to the turbine blades, giving important insights into the behavior and flight patterns of birds as well as perhaps detecting crashes. Early next summer is anticipated for the final results.

Accurate avoidance behavior documentation is essential for producing more accurate collision-risk modeling. The data and information can then be utilized as a foundation for more precisely determining collision rates, which will aid in the planning of new offshore wind farms.

Prior and current studies

A mix of radar and camera equipment was utilized in a prior study to record seabird flight behavior inside the wind farm, which was published earlier this year. The two-year study did not document any crashes or even close calls during the process, but the current research goes farther and is able to record the avoidance behavior quite close to the turbines in three dimensions.

Stakeholder advisory panel members from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Marine Scotland Science, NatureScot, and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee have been assembled to offer suggestions and comments throughout the project.

Tagged