Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-v5vhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-04T23:46:20.816Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The use of vertical-looking radar to continuously monitor the insect fauna flying at altitude over southern England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

A.D. Smith ,
D.R. Reynolds  and
J.R. Riley
A.D. Smith*
Affiliation:
Radar Entomology Unit, Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, North Site, Leigh Sinton Road, Malvern, Worcestershire WR14 1LL, UK
D.R. Reynolds
Affiliation:
Radar Entomology Unit, Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, North Site, Leigh Sinton Road, Malvern, Worcestershire WR14 1LL, UK
J.R. Riley*
Affiliation:
Radar Entomology Unit, Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, North Site, Leigh Sinton Road, Malvern, Worcestershire WR14 1LL, UK
*
*Fax: 01684 582984 E-mail: jriley@nriradar.demon.co.uk
*Fax: 01684 582984 E-mail: jriley@nriradar.demon.co.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The continuous automatic monitoring of the aerial density, biomass and relative diversity of high-flying insect faunas has been made practicable by a new, vertical-looking radar. This inexpensive radar system, with its novel signal analysis capability, represents a major advance over earlier vertical-beam radars because it provides estimates of the body mass of individual overflying insects, as well as measurements of their direction and speed of movement. This paper summarizes data collected over a three-month period by the new radar in the height range from 150 m to c.1 km, over agricultural land in Worcestershire, England. The day-to-day variation in the numbers of insects and their altitudinal and diurnal patterns of flight activity are presented. Examples are also given of distributions of mass, displacement speed and direction, and orientation direction. The potential of the new radar for various research and operational monitoring tasks is briefly discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 90 , Issue 3 , June 2000 , pp. 265 - 277
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aldous, A.C. (1990) Insect radar scattering cross-sections. PhD thesis, Cranfield Institute of Technology, Cranfield, UK.Google Scholar
Atlas, D., Harris, F.I. & Richter, J.H. (1970) The measurement of point target speeds with incoherent non-tracking radar in atmospheric waves. pp. 73–78 in Proceedings of the 14th Radar Meteorology Conference, Tucson, ArizonaNovember 17–20, 1970BostonAmerican Meteorological Society.Google Scholar
Bean, B.R., McGavin, R.E., Chadwick, R.B. & Warner, B.D. (1971) Preliminary results of utilising the high resolution FM radar as a boundary-layer probe. Boundary-Layer Meteorology 1, 466–473.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beerwinkle, K.R., Witz, J.A. & Schleider, P.G. (1993) An automated, vertical-looking, X-band radar system for continuously monitoring aerial insect activity. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers 36, 965–970.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beerwinkle, K.R., Lopez, J.D., Schleider, P.G. & Lingren, P.D. (1995) Annual patterns of aerial insect densities at altitudes from 500 to 2400 meters in east central Texas indicated by continuously-operating vertically-oriented radar. Southwestern Entomologist, supplement no. 18, 63–79.Google Scholar
Bent, G.A. (1984) Developments in detection of airborne aphids with radar. pp. 665–674 in 1984 British Crop Protection Conference – Pests and Diseases. Croydon, UK, British Crop Protection Council.Google Scholar
Bent, G.A., Carter, N., Harrington, R., Tatchell, G.M., Taylor, M.S. & Woiwod, I.P. (1987) The present status and future developments in the Rothamsted Insect Survey. pp. 201–207in Cavalloro, R. (Ed.) Aphid migration and forecasting ‘euraphid’ systems in European Community countries: Proceedings of the EC expert meeting). Luxembourg, Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.Google Scholar
Brown, V.C. (1995) Insect herbivores and gaseous air pollutants – current knowledge and predictions. pp. 219–249in Harrington, R. & Stork, N.E. (Eds) Insects in a changing environment. London, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Campistron, B. (1975) Characteristic distributions of angel echoes in the lower atmosphere and their meteorological implications. Boundary-Layer Meteorology 9, 411–426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campistron, B. & Sauvageot, H. (1974) Sur l'evolution matinale de la distribution dans l'espace des echos radar en air clair. Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Seances de l'Academie des Sciences. Serie B. Sciences physiques 279, 479–482.Google Scholar
Crawford, A.B. (1949) Radar reflections in the lower atmosphere. Proceedings of Institute of Radio Engineers 37, 404–405.Google Scholar
Drake, V.A. (1981) Quantitative observation and analysis procedures for a manually operated entomological radar. CSIRO (Australia) Division of Entomology Technical Paper no. 19. 41 pp. Melbourne, CSIRO.Google Scholar
Drake, V.A. (1993) Insect-monitoring radar: a new source of information for migration research and operational pest forecasting. pp. 452–455in Corey, S.A., Dall, D.J. & Milne, W.M. (Eds) Pest control and sustainable agriculture. Melbourne, CSIRO Publications.Google Scholar
Drake, V.A. & Farrow, R.A. (1988) The influence of atmospheric structure and motions on insect migration. Annual Review of Entomology 33, 183–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drake, V.A. & Rochester, W.A. (1994) The formation of layer concentrations by migrating insects. pp. 411–414in Proceedings of 21st Conference on Agricultural and Forest Meteorology – 11th Conference on Biometeorology, March 7–11 1994, San Diego, California. Boston, American Meteorological Society.Google Scholar
Drake, V.A., Gregg, P.C., Harman, I.T., Wang, H.K., Deveson, E.D., Hunter, D.M. & Rochester, W.A. (2000) Insect migration and population processes in inland Australia. in Woiwod, I.P., Thomas, C.D. & Reynolds, D.R. (Eds) Insect movement: mechanisms and consequences. Wallingford, UK, CAB International (in press).Google Scholar
Fleming, R.A. & Tatchell, G.M. (1995) Shifts in the flight periods of British aphids: a response to climate warming? pp. 505–508in Harrington, R. & Stork, N.E. (Eds) Insects in a changing environment. London, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Freeman, J.A. (1945) Studies in the distribution of insects by aerial currents. The insect population of the air from ground level to 300 feet. Journal of Animal Ecology 14, 128–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halbert, S.E., Jennings, M.D., Cogan, C.B., Quisenberry, S.S. & Johnson, J.B. (1995) Potential use of suction trap collections of aphids as indicators of plant diversity. pp. 499–504in Harrington, R. & Stork, N.E. (Eds) Insects in a changing environment. London, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hardy, A.C. & Milne, P.S. (1938) Studies in the distribution of insects by aerial currents. Experiments in aerial tow-netting from kites. Journal of Animal Ecology 7, 199–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hardy, K.P. & Katz, I. (1969) Probing the clear atmosphere with a high power, high resolution radar. Proceedings of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers 57, 468–480.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrington, R. (1998) Workshop: suction trapping. pp. 645–655in Nieto Nafria, J.M. & Dixon, A.G.F. (Eds) Aphids in natural and managed ecosystems. Léon, Spain, Universidad de Léon.Google Scholar
Harrington, R., Bale, J.S. & Tatchell, G.M. (1995) Aphids in a changing climate. pp. 125–155in Harrington, R. & Stork, N.E. (Eds) Insects in a changing environment. London, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hobbs, S.E. & Wolf, W.W. (1989) An airborne radar technique for studying insect migration. Bulletin of Entomological Research 79, 693–704.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobbs, S.E. & Wolf, W.W. (1996) Developments in airborne entomological radar. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology 13, 58–61.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, C.G. (1969) Migration and dispersal of insects by flight. 763 pp. London, Methuen.Google Scholar
Lindblad, M. and Solbreck, C. (1998) Predicting Oscinella frit population densities from suction trap catches and weather data. Journal of Applied Ecology 35, 871–881.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ottersten, H. (1970) Radar angels and their relationship to meteorological factors. Final Report. Försvarets Forskningsanstalt, Stockholm, FOA Reports vol. 4, no. 2, 1–33.Google Scholar
Perry, J.N., Woiwod, I.P. and Hanski, I. (1995) Using response-surface methodology to detect chaos. Oikos 68, 329–339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pike, K.S., Allison, D.W., Low, G., Bishop, G.W., Halbert, S.E. & Johnston, R.L. (1990) Cereal aphid vectors: a western regional (USA) monitoring system. pp. 282–285in Burnett, P.A. (Ed.) World perspectives on barley yellow dwarf. CIMMYT (Centro Internacional de Mejoramient de Maiz y Trigo), Mexico D.F., Mexico.Google Scholar
Reynolds, D.R. & Riley, J.R. (1997) The flight behaviour and migration of insect pests: radar studies in developing countries. Natural Resources Institute Bulletin no. 71, 114 pp. Chatham, UK, Natural Resources Institute.Google Scholar
Reynolds, D.R., Riley, J.R., Armes, N.J., Cooter, R.J., Tucker, M.R. & Colvin, J. (1997) Quantifying insect migration. pp. 111–145in Dent, D.R. & Walton, M.P. (Eds) Methods in ecological and agricultural entomology. Wallingford, UK, CAB International.Google Scholar
Riley, J.R. (1989) Orientation by high-flying insects at night: observations and theories. in Orientation and navigation – birds, humans and other animals. Papers presented at the Conference of the Royal Institute of Navigation, Cardiff, 6–8 April 1989.London, The Royal Institute of Navigation.Google Scholar
Riley, J.R. and Reynolds, D.R. (1979) Radar-based studies of the migratory flight of grasshoppers in the middle Niger area of Mali. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B 204, 67–82.Google ScholarPubMed
Riley, J.R. and Reynolds, D.R. (1983) A long-range migration of grasshoppers observed in the Sahelian zone of Mali by two radars. Journal of Animal Ecology 52, 167–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riley, J.R. & Reynolds, D.R. (1986) Orientation at night by high-flying insects. pp. 71–87 in Danthanarayana, W. (Ed.) Insect flight: dispersal and migration. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riley, J.R. & Reynolds, D.R. (1993) Radar monitoring of locusts and other migratory insects. pp. 51–53in Cartwright, A.(Ed.) World agriculture 1993. Sterling Publications, London.Google Scholar
Riley, J.R. & Reynolds, D.R. (1997) Vertical-looking radar as a means to improve forecasting and control of desert locusts. pp. 47–54in Krall, S., Peveling, R. & Ba Diallo, D.(Eds) New strategies in locust control. Basel, Birkhäuser Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riley, J.R., Smith, A.D. & Gregory, R.D. (1993) A radar technique for automatically monitoring insect migration and bio-diversity. pp. 310–317in Mancini, P., Fioretti, S., Cristalli, C. & Bedini, R.(Eds) Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium on Biotelemetry, Ancona, 1992. Pisa, Italy, Lithographa Felici.Google Scholar
Schaefer, G.W. (1979) An airborne radar technique for the investigation and control of migrating pest insects. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, B 287, 459–465.Google Scholar
Smith, A.D. and Riley, J.R. (1996) Signal processing in a novel radar system for monitoring insect migration. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 15, 267–278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, A.D., Riley, J.R. and Gregory, R.D. (1993) A method for routine monitoring of the aerial migration of insects by using a vertical-looking radar. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, B 340, 393–404.Google Scholar
Tatchell, G.M. (1991) Monitoring and forecasting aphid problems. pp. 215–231in Peters, D.C., Webster, J.A & Chlouber, C.S.(Eds) Aphid–plant interactions: populations to molecules. Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station Miscellaneous Publication no. 132. Stillwater, Oklahoma, USDA-Agricultural Research Service and Oklahoma State University.Google Scholar
Taylor, L.R. (1985) An international standard for the synoptic monitoring and dynamic mapping of migrant pest aphid populations. pp. 337–380in MacKenzie, D.R., Barfield, C.S., Kennedy, G.C., Berger, R.D. & Taranto, D.J.(Eds) The movement and dispersal of agriculturally important biotic agents. Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Claitor's Publishing Division.Google Scholar
Woiwod, I.P. and Hanski, I. (1992) Patterns of density dependence in moths and aphids. Journal of Animal Ecology 61, 619–629.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woiwod, I.P. & Harrington, R. (1994) Flying in the face of change: the Rothamsted Insect Survey. pp. 321–342in Leigh, R.A. and Johnson, A.E.(Eds) Long-term experiments in agricultural and ecological sciences. Wallingford, UK, CAB International.Google Scholar
Wolf, W.W., Westbrook, J.K., Raulston, J., Pair, S.D. and Hobbs, S.E. (1990) Recent airborne radar observations of migrant pests in the United States. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, B 328, 619–630.Google Scholar
Zhou, X., Perry, J.N., Woiwod, I.P., Harrington, R., Bale, J.S. and Clark, S.J. (1997) Detecting chaotic dynamics of insect populations from long-term survey data. Ecological Entomology 22, 231–241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar