Diehl, R.H., Cryan, P.M., and Valdez, E.W., 2015, Data Recordings from the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) Facility Recorded by the USGS during Spring and Fall 2014: U.S. Geological Survey data release, http://dx.doi.org/10.5066/F7GM85DN.
Summary
In this observational pilot study, we worked at the largest existing solar tower facility in the world (Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System - ISEGS) to assess the efficacy of using radar, surveillance video, and insect trapping to monitor animals flying near the towers. During week-long site visits in May and September, we monitored the airspace surrounding towers and observed insects, occasional birds, and bats under a variety of environmental and operational conditions. This dataset consists of raster portable network graphics (png) images of the planned position indicator (ppi) display from a Furuno FR2127 portable radar unit to a maximum range of 1.5 km. A new image is written with each rotation of the radar's antenna every [...]
Summary
In this observational pilot study, we worked at the largest existing solar tower facility in the world (Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System - ISEGS) to assess the efficacy of using radar, surveillance video, and insect trapping to monitor animals flying near the towers. During week-long site visits in May and September, we monitored the airspace surrounding towers and observed insects, occasional birds, and bats under a variety of environmental and operational conditions. This dataset consists of raster portable network graphics (png) images of the planned position indicator (ppi) display from a Furuno FR2127 portable radar unit to a maximum range of 1.5 km. A new image is written with each rotation of the radar's antenna every ~2.5 seconds yielding over 500,000 images in this study. The vast majority of radar scatterers detected by the radar represent flying animals, both vertebrates and invertebrates.
Locational information associated with the towers from which recordings were captured:
Coordinate information based on UTM Projection, Zone 11 (Datum: NAD 1983_CORS96, Ellipsoid: GRS_1980)
These data support the following publication:
Diehl, R. H, E. W. Valdez, T. M. Preston, M. J. Wellik, and P. M. Cryan. 2016. Evaluating the effectiveness of wildlife detection and observation technologies at a solar power tower facility. PLOS ONE.
Solar power towers produce electrical energy from sunlight at an industrial scale. Little is known about the effects of this emerging technology on flying animals. Bird mortality attributable to collisions and burn injuries were reported at a solar tower in the 1980's and more recently at a new, larger facility. Smoking objects are sometimes observed co-occurring with reflected, concentrated light (“solar flux”) in the airspace around solar towers, yet the identity and origins of such objects can be difficult to determine. Because of the large size of new solar towers (taller than 40-story buildings), few established methods exist for observing animals flying near them. This was a pilot study to experiment with different types of observational technologies for determining the presence and identity of animals and objects flying in the airspace near the tops of solar power towers and is not appropriate for quantitative analysis. Data from radar complements other technologies used in this study by offering a wider-scale view of the movements of flying animals through the ISEGS facility, although clutter produced by solar tower structure prevented radar from capturing the behaviors of flying animsls in close proximity to towers. This imagery was not gathered in a systematic enough way to draw inference beyond anecdotal observations.
