Forecasting bird migration to reduce bird strike

To reduce the risk of bird strike in military Air Force operations, this project aims to establish a pre-operational bird monitoring service centre within KNMI infrastructure (service provider) for a sustainable exploitation by Royal Netherlands (RNLAF) and Belgian (BAF) Air Forces (end users). The main needs expressed by the users is to receive improved nowcast and forecast of bird density information through a standardized information to reduce bird strike risks during en-route operations and improved real time information on bird densities at and near airports to reduce the risk of bird strike during taking off and landing activities. FlySafe system combines direct and indirect measurements of bird migration from space systems,  including Earth observation and navigation satellites, with in situ bird migration information from ground radar, military and weather radar through models that generate three dimensional nowcast and forecast of bird migration.