title: Flight paths of seabirds soaring over the ocean surface enable measurement of fine-scale wind speed and direction.
abstract: Ocean surface winds are an essential factor in understanding the physical interactions between the atmosphere and the ocean. Surface winds measured by satellite scatterometers and buoys cover most of the global ocean; however, there are still spatial and temporal gaps and finer-scale variations of wind that may be overlooked, particularly in coastal areas. Here, we show that flight paths of soaring seabirds can be used to estimate fine-scale (every 5 min, ∼5 km) ocean surface winds. Fine-scale global positioning system (GPS) positional data revealed that soaring seabirds flew tortuously and ground speed fluctuated presumably due to tail winds and head winds. Taking advantage of the ground speed difference in relation to flight direction, we reliably estimated wind speed and direction experienced by the birds. These bird-based wind velocities were significantly correlated with wind velocities estimated by satellite-borne scatterometers. Furthermore, extensive travel distances and flight duration of the seabirds enabled a wide range of high-resolution wind observations, especially in coastal areas. Our study suggests that seabirds provide a platform from which to measure ocean surface winds, potentially complementing conventional wind measurements by covering spatial and temporal measurement gaps.
authors.affiliation: Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8564, Japan; yonehara@aori.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yoshinari
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yonehara
authors.affiliation: Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8564, Japan;
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Furo, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan;
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoda
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, Minato, Hakodate 041-8611, Japan;
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watanuki
authors.affiliation: Pacific Rim Conservation, Honolulu, HI 96822;
authors.forename: Lindsay C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chize (CEBC), UMR 7372 CNRS, Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France.
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Weimerskirch
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chize (CEBC), UMR 7372 CNRS, Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France.
authors.forename: Charles-André
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Bost
authors.affiliation: Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8564, Japan;
authors.forename: Katsufumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sato
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D005426:Flight, Animal; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D014919:Wind
keywords: GPS; biologging; dynamic soaring; meteorology; satellite scatterometer