INTRODUCTION – The main goal of the research and development activities
conducted by the FAA can be summarized as: Reduce the Bird Strike Risk
to Aircrafts.
Note: Although this website is being sponsored by the FAA,
the FAA welcomes the presentation of Research and Development Activities
not currently sponsored by the FAA. To include these other R&D activities,
please contact Ryan.King@faa.gov
SECTION A – DESCRIPTION OF R&D MAIN
COMPONENTS
There are several approaches and ways to meet the stated goal.
Habitat Management at airports
This is the traditional approach. Under this approach, one looks at
understanding the habitat of problem species for airports. When the habitat
is well-understood, habitat modifications are undertaken to make this habitat
less desirable to the problem species. Over time it is expected that the
overall count of the problem species diminish. It is a hazard reduction-based
approach where reduction in the hazard (the presence of birds) is expected
to lead to a reduction of the overall wildlife strike risk. The main advantage
of the habitat management approach is that it provides a foundation for
understanding the airport environment from a scientific and ecological
perspective. The main disadvantage is that solutions are long-term in nature
and hence, these solutions take a long time to implement. Long-term research
is actively being conducted in this area.
Detection and Dispersion of Problem Species
When wildlife has become an immediate source of danger to aircraft,
immediate remedial techniques have to be used. Tests and evaluation of
new dispersion techniques are being conducted on a continuous basis. At
present there are no reliable detection techniques being used by airports.
At the research and development level and in concurrence with a recommendation
from the National Safety Transportation Board (NTSB), the use of radar
is being investigated as the most promising reliable bird detection technology.
Understanding the evolution of the Bird Strike Risk
It is currently perceived that the bird strike risk has increased in
the recent past. This is due a number of factors such wildlife population
increases, the introduction of less noisy twin engines, and an increase
in air traffic. The quantification of the bird strike risk though is not
an easy task. To do so, statisticians must analyze actual bird strike data
and hopefully have enough quality data at their disposal to be able to
make predictions regarding future bird strike risk.
Development of Wildlife Hazard Advisory Systems
One of the goals is to develop a real-time wildlife advisory system
(WHAS). Such system would be used by pilots and air traffic control. It
is envisioned that WHAS will be available on-line. Two of the main challenges
for the development of WHAS are: 1) a reliable wildlife detection technique
needs to be tested, 2) Algorithms for the computation of risk need to be
developed and tested for each airport. The development of WHAS will be
performed under two stages, a hazard-based system and a risk-based system.
SECTION B - CURRENT PROJECTS
PERFORMERS - Current projects are sponsored by the FAA and are
conducted by the Wildlife Research Service of the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA/WS), located in Sandusky, OH or by the University
of Illinois (a designated FAA Center of Excellence). In addition, the joint
projects are currently being investigated to be conducted with the United
States Air Force. Please select from the following:
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