Planning is underway for placement of infrastructure needed to begin offshore wind (OSW) energy generation along the West Coast of the United States and elsewhere in the Pacific Ocean. In contrast to the primarily nearshore windfarms currently in the North Atlantic, the seabird communities inhabiting Pacific Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) include significant populations of species that fly by dynamic soaring, a behavior dependent on wind and in which flight height increases steeply with wind speed. Therefore, a more precise and detailed assessment of their 3D airspace use is needed to better understand the potential collision risks that OSW turbines may present to these seabirds. Toward this end, a novel technology called the ThermalTracker-3D (TT3D), which uses thermal imaging and stereo vision, was developed to render high-resolution (on average within ±5 m) flight tracks and related behavior of seabirds. The technology was developed and deployed on a wind-profiling LiDAR buoy in the Humboldt WEA, located 34 to 57 km off California’s coast. During the at-sea deployment between 24 May and 13 August 2021, the TT3D successfully tracked birds moving between 10 and 500 m from the device, around the clock, and in all weather conditions; a total of 1407 detections and their corresponding 3D flight trajectories were recorded. Mean altitudes of detections ranged 6-295 m above sea level (asl). Considering the degree of overlap with anticipated rotor swept zones (RSZ), which extend 25-260 m asl, 79% of detected birds (per m3 of airspace) moved below the RSZ, 21% moved at heights overlapping the RSZ, and another 0.04% occurred at heights exceeding the RSZ. The high-resolution tracks provided valuable insight into seabird space use, especially at heights that make them vulnerable to collision during various environmental conditions (e.g., darkness, strong winds). Observations made by the TT3D will be useful in filling critical knowledge gaps related to estimating collision and avoidance between seabirds and OSW facilities in the Pacific and elsewhere. Future research will focus on enhancing the TT3D’s identification capabilities to the lowest taxon through validation studies and artificial intelligence, further contributing to seabird conservation efforts associated with OSW.

中文翻译：

---

自主热跟踪揭示了与浮动海上风力设施相互作用相关的海鸟活动的时空模式

目前正在规划在美国西海岸和太平洋其他地区部署海上风电 (OSW) 所需的基础设施。与目前北大西洋主要的近岸风电场相比，居住在太平洋风能区（WEA）的海鸟群落包括大量通过动态翱翔飞行的物种，这是一种依赖风的行为，飞行高度随着风速急剧增加。因此，需要对其 3D 空域使用进行更精确和详细的评估，以更好地了解 OSW 涡轮机可能给这些海鸟带来的潜在碰撞风险。为此，开发了一种名为 ThermalTracker-3D (TT3D) 的新技术，该技术使用热成像和立体视觉来渲染海鸟的高分辨率（平均在 ±5 m 以内）飞行轨迹和相关行为。该技术是在距加州海岸 34 至 57 公里的洪堡 WEA 的风廓线 LiDAR 浮标上开发和部署的。在2021年5月24日至8月13日的海上部署期间，TT3D在所有天气条件下全天候成功跟踪距离设备10至500 m之间移动的鸟类；总共记录了 1407 次检测及其相应的 3D 飞行轨迹。检测到的平均高度范围为海拔 6-295 m (asl)。考虑到与预计的转子扫掠区域 (RSZ) 的重叠程度，该区域延伸 25-260 m asl，79% 的检测到的鸟类（每 m3的空域）移动到 RSZ 以下，21% 移动到与 RSZ 重叠的高度，另外 0.04% 移动到超过 RSZ 的高度。高分辨率的轨迹为海鸟的空间使用提供了宝贵的见解，特别是在使它们在各种环境条件（例如黑暗、强风）下容易发生碰撞的高度上。 TT3D 进行的观测将有助于填补与估计太平洋和其他地方海鸟与 OSW 设施之间的碰撞和避免相关的关键知识空白。未来的研究将侧重于通过验证研究和人工智能增强 TT3D 对最低分类单元的识别能力，进一步为与 OSW 相关的海鸟保护工作做出贡献。