Meteorological Data Policies Needed to Support Biodiversity Monitoring with Weather Radar

Judy Shamoun-Baranes*, Silke Bauer, Jason W. Chapman, Peter Desmet, Adriaan M. Dokter, Andrew Farnsworth, Hans van Gasteren, Birgen Haest, Jarmo Koistinen, Bart Kranstauber, Felix Liechti, Tom H.E. Mason, Cecilia Nilsson, Raphael Nussbaumer, Baptiste Schmid, Nadja Weisshaupt, Hidde Leijnse

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Weather radar networks have great potential for continuous and long-term monitoring of aerial biodiversity of birds, bats, and insects. Biological data from weather radars can support ecological research, inform conservation policy development and implementation, and increase the public’s interest in natural phenomena such as migration. Weather radars are already used to study animal migration, quantify changes in populations, and reduce aerial conflicts between birds and aircraft. Yet efforts to establish a framework for the broad utilization of operational weather radar for biodiversity monitoring are at risk without suitable data policies and infrastructure in place. In Europe, communities of meteorologists and ecologists have made joint efforts toward sharing and standardizing continent-wide weather radar data. These efforts are now at risk as new meteorological data exchange policies render data useless for biodiversity monitoring. In several other parts of the world, weather radar data are not even available for ecological research. We urge policy makers, funding agencies, and meteorological organizations across the world to recognize the full potential of weather radar data. We propose several actions that would ensure the continued capability of weather radar networks worldwide to act as powerful tools for biodiversity monitoring and research.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)E1234-E1242
JournalBulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Volume103
Issue number4
Early online date27 Apr 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2022

Keywords

  • Animal studies
  • Biosphere-atmosphere interaction
  • Ecology
  • Economic value
  • Policy
  • Radars/Radar observations

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