Bird Strike Committee Proceedings

 

Title

The German Military Geophysical Service. Bird Migration Observation, Warning and Forecasting System: New Developments towards an Automated Bird Migration Information System

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

May 1999

The German Military Geophysical Office (GMGO) has a more than 30-years experience in all fields of bird strike prevention. Military training and flight operations usually take place in low altitudes, where also a lot of birds are present, especially near coasts and during migration periods. About one third of all the GAF bird strikes occurs during low level flight operations. The most effective tool for bird strike prevention in military low level flying is the well proved system of
· continuous actual bird migration observation (visual and by radar),
· immediate reporting,
· centralised risk evaluation,
· online warning (BIRDTAM),
· immediate distribution of BIRDTAM to air staff and pilots,
· strict regulations for military flights and
· a regular bird strike risk forecast for planning purposes.
The paper gives an overview over recent and near future developments towards an Automated Bird Migration Information System (AVIS(lat.:Bird): “Automatisiertes Vogelzug Informations -System”) for Germany and adjacent areas. The important modules of this system are described. The actual state of the project is outlined.