Offshore Wind Wildlife Monitoring Technologies for BOEMRE
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement
Pandion is conducting three distinct research projects for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE, formerly MMS). These projects all entail pioneering new methodologies and technologies for oceanic wildlife monitoring and risk assessment in support of offshore renewable energy development.
In this three-year study, we are assessing potential interactions of the Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus), Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii), and Red Knot (Calidris canutus) with wind facilities anticipated for development off the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). This study will assist BOEMRE in developing regulations,
guidelines, and proposed assessment methodologies for offshore wind
development in the U.S. Three pilot studies for this project include:
- Remote Acoustic/Thermographic Monitoring Device
- Tracking Red Knot Migration with Light-Sensitive Geolocators
- Behavior of Flying Terns within and around Wind Turbine Airspace
Resources and full description of pilot studies >>
Period of Performance: 2008 to 2011
Acoustic Monitoring of Temporal and Spatial Abundance of Birds and Bats Near OCS Structures
The principal objective of this project is to field test and operate acoustic/thermographic detectors on offshore structures to detect bird and bat species for wildlife risk assessment and monitoring, in particular as associated with offshore wind facility permitting. In the first stage, we will complete the development and testing of the detection device initiated in an earlier pilot study for BOEMRE (see above). In addition to audible sound frequencies for birds, the device will also detect ultrasound for bat vocalizations. Furthermore, it will contain flight
altitude estimators, meteorological sensors, and it will operate remotely in the offshore environment.
The final three years of the project are dedicated to conducting an extended risk
assessment based on deployment of, and data gathering by, the remote detection device in situ on the Atlantic OCS.
Period of Performance: 2010 to 2014
Pilot Study of Aerial High-Definition Surveys for Seabirds,
Marine Mammals, and Sea Turtles
This project centers around a set of experiments to evaluate several different
technologies for conducting digital offshore aerial wildlife surveys. In this project, we will develop and test a methodology for conducting aerial high-definition digital image surveys of birds, marine mammals, and sea turtles in the offshore environment using state of the art survey techniques that are efficient and provide high quality, reproducible data. As a final step, we will use the results to develop a protocol for the U.S. government to conduct large scale offshore wildlife surveys of the Atlantic OCS from the Maine-Canada border to the southern end of Florida.
Period of performance: 2010 to 2012
Pandion Team
Key Personnel
- Christian Newman, MS, project director
- Caleb Gordon, PhD, project manager, lead ornithologist
- Greg Forcey, PhD, ornithologist
- James Newman, PhD, ornithologist
- Crissy Sutter, MS, bat biologist
- Allison Costello, MS, bat biologist
- Ian Baldwin, technology development manager
- Chris Ribe, lead technology developer
- Matthew Shockley, technology developer
Sub-contractors (Potential for Interactions)
- William Warren-Hicks, PhD, EcoStat, Inc
- Andrew Farnsworth, PhD, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
- Steve Kelling, MS, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
- Joanna Burger, PhD, Rutgers University
- Lawrence Niles, PhD, Conserve Wildlife Foundation
- Lucy Vlietstra, PhD, Coast Guard Academy
- Edward Zillioux, PhD, Environmental Bioindicators Foundation, Inc.
- Mark Desholm, PhD, Danish National Environmental Research Institute
- David Mizrahi, PhD, New Jersey Audubon Society
- Eric Smith, PhD, Virginia Technical University
- Kenneth Rosenberg, PhD, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
- Richard Podolsky, PhD
Sub-contractors (Acoustic Monitoring)
- Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology (acoustic identification of birds)
- IA Tech (remote sensing technology development)
- Rhinosys, Inc. (remote sensing software systems)
- Adaptive Equipment (technology fabrication)
Subcontractors (Aerial High-Definition Surveys)
- Michael Kujawa, Gemini Renewables (technology project manager)
- Boulder Imaging (image capture and signal processing)
- IA Tech (image capture, signal processing, unmanned aircraft construction and operation)
- Pinnacle 1 Aviation (manned aircraft evaluation, contracting, coordination)
- ECOES, Inc. (marine mammal and sea turtle surveys and image analysis)
- AIS Observers, Inc. (marine mammal and sea turtle surveys)
- British Trust for Ornithology (ornithology, offshore avian analysis from high-definition aerial images)
