Bird Strike Committee Proceedings
Date of this Version
August 2001
Abstract
At past Bird Strike Conferences, the need for having a good database to track and analyze wildlife activities has been expressed. Sadly, most airports/wildlife contractors still depend on archaic log sheets. At best, some have tapped into the limited capability of spreadsheets. Limiting yourself to this method severely restricts your abilities to track activities effectively. And if the data isn’t available then you cannot make informed decisions. Toronto’s Pearson International Airport’s Field Superintendent John Meehan put it best by saying… “I cannot imagine any airport trying to oversee wildlife initiatives without an effective data analysis tool…it would be meaningless…”. If you do not have accurate, timely data like John says, then how can you realistically determine Threat Assessments, Hazard Analysis, Trends, Primary Attractants, Deterrent Success rates or Geographical Hot Spots to name a few. And if you cannot produce data results such as these then how can you take effective measures? Is spending X amount of dollars on a spray program really making a difference? Or keeping the grass in a particular area an inch shorter really better? Maybe your efforts are good, but did it spark another situation somewhere else? How do you track dynamics such as these? I have developed a software program that specifically addresses these problems. AIRMAN (Animal Interdiction Report Manager) is a complete stand-alone program that reports on all aspects of wildlife intervention and stores this information in a modern Relational Database. All wildlife encountered, its surrounding variables, equipment and methods used are recorded on one simple data entry screen. Once the data is entered, AIRMAN can recall this data and produce a host of professional reports that allow you to make informed decisions. All reports and query engines have unrestricted date ranges to report on. Everything is consistent because all data comes from the same reliable source. This means no integrity errors. You have full control over what you want to see. You can predefine report headers to explain the nature of the report such as Annual, Migratory, Special (ie. Anywhere Airport Annual Strike Report). Here are a few of the reports available….