Bird use of solar photovoltaic installations at US airports: Implications for aviation safety

• Published in: Landscape and urban planning Vol. 122; pp. 122 - 128
• Main Authors: DeVault, Travis L., Seamans, Thomas W., Schmidt, Jason A., Belant, Jerrold L., Blackwell, Bradley F., Mooers, Nicole, Tyson, Laura A., Van Pelt, Lolita
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.02.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Airport; Airports; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Arrays; Aves; Biological and medical sciences; Bird strike; Bird-aircraft collisions; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Grasslands; Hazards; Mathematical models; Photovoltaic; Photovoltaic cells; Renewable energy; Seasons; Solar; Solar cells; US Federal Aviation Administration; Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution; USA, Colorado; USA, Arizona; USA, Ohio; Bird strike; Photovoltaic; Renewable energy; Solar; US Federal Aviation Administration; Airport; Vertebrata; Safety; Aves; Environmental management
• ISSN: 0169-2046; 1872-6062
• DOI: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2013.11.017

•Several airports have recently installed photovoltaic arrays on their properties.•We studied bird use of photovoltaic arrays and airport grasslands in three states.•Overall photovoltaic arrays did not increase bird hazards to aviation at airports.•Large species hazardous to aviation were less abundant on photovoltaic arrays. Several airports in the US have recently installed large photovoltaic (PV) arrays near air-operations areas to offset energy demands, and the US Federal Aviation Administration has published guidelines for new solar installations on airport properties. Although an increased reliance on solar energy will likely benefit airports from environmental and economic perspectives, bird use of solar installations should be examined before wide-scale implementation to determine whether such changes in land use adversely affect aviation safety by increasing risk of bird-aircraft collisions. We studied bird use of five pairs of PV arrays and nearby airport grasslands in Arizona, Colorado, and Ohio, over one year. Across locations, we observed 46 species of birds in airfield grasslands compared to 37 species in PV arrays. We calculated a bird hazard index (BHI) based on the mean seasonal mass of birds per area surveyed. General linear model analysis indicated that BHI was influenced by season, with higher BHI in summer than fall and winter. We found no effect of treatment (PV arrays vs. airfields), location, or interactions among predictors. However, using a nonparametric two-group test across all seasons and locations, we found greater BHI in airfield grasslands than PV arrays for those species considered especially hazardous to aircraft (species≥1.125kg). Our results suggest that converting airport grasslands to PV arrays would not increase hazards associated with bird-aircraft collisions.