Abstract
Soaring migrants such as storks, pelicans and large birds of prey rely on thermal convection during migration. The convection model ALPTHERM was designed to predict the onset, strength, duration and depth of thermal convection for varying topographies for glider pilots, based on atmospheric conditions at midnight. We tested ALPTHERM predictions as configured for two topographies of central Israel, the Coastal Plains and the Judean and Samarian Mountains in order to predict altitudes of migrating white storks (Ciconia ciconia). Migrating flocks of white storks were tracked with a motorized glider, to measure maximum altitudes of migration during spring 2000. A significant positive correlation was found between the maximum daily altitudes of migration measured and the predicted upper boundary of thermal convection for the Coastal Plains and Samarian Mountains. Thirty-minute predictions for the Coastal Plains and Samarian Mountains correlated positively with measured maximum migration altitudes per thermal. ALPTHERM forecasts can be used to alter flight altitudes in both civil and especially military aviation and reduce the hazard of serious aircraft collisions with soaring migrants.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alpert, P., Tannhauser, D. S., Leshem, Y., Kravitz, A., and Rabinovitch-Hadar, M.: 2000, 'Migrating Soaring Birds Align along Sea-Breeze Fronts; First Evidence from Israel', Bull. Amer. Meteorol. Soc. 81, 1599-1601.
Bradbury, T.: 2000, Meteorology and Flight: A Pilots Guide to Weather, A and C Black, London, 186 pp.
ESRI: 1999, ArcView 3.2, ESRI, California.
Kerlinger, P.: 1989, Flight Strategies of Migrating Hawks, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 375 pp.
Leshem, Y.: 1996, 'Evaluating the Cost of Bird-Related Damage to Civilian and Military Flights as a Vital Tool to Increase Flight Safety', in Proceedings of the 23rd International Bird Strike Committee, London, pp. 125-133.
Leshem, Y. and Yom-Tov, Y.: 1996, 'The Use of Thermals by Soaring Migrants', Ibis 138, 667-674.
Leshem, Y. and Yom-Tov, Y.: 1998, 'Routes of Migrating Soaring Birds', Ibis 140, 41-52.
Liechti, O. and Lorenzen, E.: 1998, 'A New Approach to the Climatology of Convective Activity', Tech. Soaring 22, 36-40.
Liechti, O. and Neininger, B.: 1994, 'ALPTHERM a PC-Based Model for Atmospheric Convection over Complex Topography', Tech. Soaring 18, 73-78.
Liechti, F., Ehrich, D., and Bruderer, B.: 1996, 'Flight Behaviour of White Storks on their Migration over Southern Israel', Ardea 84, 3-11.
Richardson, J. and West, T.: 2000, 'Serious Birdstrike Accidents to Military Aircraft: Updated List and Summary', in Proceedings of the 25th International Bird Strike Committee, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, April 17-21, 2000, 67-97.
Robinson, M.: 2000, 'Is the Possibility of a Costly Aircraft Bird Strike Growing?', in Proceedings of the 25th International Bird Strike Committee, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, April 17-21, 2000, 169-178.
Shannon, H. D., Young, G. S., Yates, M. A., Fuller, M. R., and Seegar, W. S.: 2002, 'Measurements of Thermal Updraft Intensity over Complex Terrain Using American White Pelicans and a Simple Boundary-Layer Model', Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 104, 167-199.
Spaar, R.: 1997, 'Flight Strategies of Migrating Raptors; A Comparative Study of Interspecific Variation in Flight Characteristics', Ibis 139, 523-535.
Spaar, R., Liechti, O., and Bruderer, B.: 2000, 'Forecasting Flight Altitudes and Soaring Performance of Migrating Raptors by the Altitudinal Profile of Atmospheric Conditions', Tech. Soaring 24, 49-55.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shamoun-Baranes, J., Liechti, O., Yom-Tov, Y. et al. Using a Convection Model to Predict Altitudes of White Stork Migration Over Central Israel. Boundary-Layer Meteorology 107, 673–681 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022824008388
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022824008388