Biological data derived from European weather radars
Year: 2025
Type: data-paper
Abstract: Weather radars detect more than weather, they also continuously register the movements of billions of animals aloft in the lower atmosphere. This makes archived, unfiltered weather radar data a goldmine for biological monitoring purposes, providing coverage of the aerial habitat in a way no other method can. Here we present two datasets of biological data extracted from European weather radar data, obtained through a collaboration with the Operational Programme for the Exchange of Weather Radar Information (OPERA) and three national meteorological services. The datasets were created by processing weather radar data with methods optimized for extracting bird targets, resulting in vertical profiles of biological targets. The datasets collectively cover 141 radar stations in 18 countries, from 2008 to 2023. Data quality and coverage differs between years, countries, and radar stations, so care must be taken when evaluating data for each specific use case. Despite these challenges the datasets are currently the most comprehensive of their kind in Europe and open new avenues in understanding continental scale movements of aerial animals.
Source: Scientific Data
Institutions: Research Institute for Nature and Forest, University of Amsterdam, Cornell University, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Swiss Ornithological Institute, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, ETH Zurich, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, Lund University
Language: English
Topic: Avian ecology and behavior
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,490
Funders: National Science Foundation, European Space Agency, Biodiversa+, European Commission, European Cooperation in Science and Technology, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas, Academy of Finland, Belgian Federal Science Policy Office, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
Awards: G1406029522, G1441727388, G1458691481, G1608055399, Belmont Forum Collaborative Research: Biodiversity Scenarios: Towards monitoring, understanding and forecasting Global Biomass flows of Aerial Migrants, G2374230020, G2555036753, G2719900688, Harmonizing and integrating Radar-based approaches for monitoring Aerial bioDiversity, Large scale monitoring of aerial migrants, G5557177152, G6995438966, Elucidating continental-scale patterns of bird migration with weather radars, G770089281, G8200881090, Harmonizing and integrating radar-based approaches for monitoring aerial biodiversity (HiRAD), GloBAM - Towards monitoring, understanding and forecasting global biomass flows of aerial migrants, Europa Biodiversity Observation Network: integrating data streams to support policy, G8953616651
OpenAlex ID: W4408049178