Bash. - Bird/wildlife arcraft strike hazard military/aviation

Approach, April, 2003 by Matthew W. Klope

Through the Natural Resources Division of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, a process has been established with the Smithsonian Institution to identify bird-strike remains. The Navy's procedure is for the installation's natural-resources manager, university, museum, or birding group to locally identify strike-event remains. If this procedure is not possible, or if the remains are too small or fragmented, then they should be sent to the Navy's BASH program coordinator for cataloging and forwarding to the Smithsonian for identification. All identification information and remains will be returned to the squadron after they are identified. It is important to collect and turn in for identification the smears on the canopy that look like a big bug splat. A splat will contain feather fragments that can be identified. When more strike events are identified, the installation's program will improve.

Research and study of bird movements within the local vicinity of an installation and across the nation is progressing. Technology is advancing in the area of radar ornithology through the funding of the Department of Defense Legacy Program. The Navy's BIRDRAD (bird radar) program, through the Clemson University Radar Ornithology Laboratory, is developing a modified marine radar to document bird activity at local airports.

Five BIRDRAD mobile units are deployed around the country at Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force installations. Five more units will be built with FY03 Legacy, funds. Once all 10 units are deployed and operating, a website will be created to centrally locate activity images. Pilots can view the avian activity at their local installation or their destination during pre-flight planning. The Legacy Program also is funding Clemson University to research using the National Weather Service's Weather-Surveillance Doppler Radar images to study national bird activity associated with weather patterns. This data will be used to predict national movements of birds. Current information available for national movements and concentrations of birds is available through the U.S. Air Force's Bird-Avoidance Model (BAM) website (see page 2). A website tool for flight planning is the Avian-Hazard-Advisory System (AHAS), www.ahas.com.

Another research tool being looked into is partnership between the Navy and the Partners-In-Flight Initiative. This program is dedicated to preserving migratory birds on Department of Defense lands. Research is ongoing to determine the habitat requirements for avian species that do not pose a threat to military aviation. This program will assist installation managers in directing their limited funding away from the species that do not pose a threat to those that do.

A comprehensive BASH program requires communication between all players in the installation's aviation and natural-resources programs. Information regarding problem species or problem areas must be related to the aviators in a real-time scenario to provide the safest possible flying environment.