Dr. Judy Shamoun-Baranes

Universiteit van Amsterdam Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics Computational Geo-Ecology Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam Room C 4.168 Tel: + 31 20 525 7436 Fax: +31 20 525 7431 shamoun@uva.nl

Research interests

The influence of weather on bird flight

The phenomenon of migration is truly fantastic and one that awakens a desire to understand, if only a little, this spectacular phenomenon. A wide variety of exogenous factors influence bird behavior and specifically bird migration.  These factors and their affect may differ between species, within species, between seasons, regions etc., creating a complex network of variables influencing a bird’s course of migration. 

One of my primary research interests is how birds are influenced by and adapt to atmospheric dynamics at different scales in time and space, from boundary layer dynamics to synoptic systems. Weather, for example, can affect the timing, intensity, speed, route and altitudes of migration. 

Left: Motorized glider tracking a flock of white pelicans along the Samarian Mountains, Israel Spring 2000 (photograph Moni Aramati).  Right: Temporal distribution of modeled thermal convection and measured flight altitudes (dark line) of one White Stork flock in Israel on 12 April 1987.  Grey section represents proportion of thermal depth where 78% of observed maximum flight altitudes are predicted (0.41-1.0 thermal depth), filled area represents topography.

 
By nature, studying the relationship between external factors, such as meteorological conditions, and avian flight dynamics is multidisciplinary, encompassing fields such as ornithology, meteorology, physical geography and computer sciences, using both new and old technologies for data collection and analysis. My work often requires the application of these models and results to create predictions.  However, not only do I find the interpretation of research results exciting but the process itself; participating in interdisciplinary research spanning several fields which requires a broader view of the research subject and integrating a diverse network of data sources, including visual observations, radar Ornithology, and satellite telemetry.

Current research themes

• The influence of meteorological conditions on avian flight (soaring migration, active migration, local movements, flight strategies)
  
• Simulation modelling of bird migration (soaring migration, waders, passerines)
• Individual variation in foraging movements
  

Bird strike prevention

Bird strikes cause damage costing billions of US dollars a year to civil and military aviation around the world as well as the incalculable loss of lives. Bird strike prevention programs and policies around the world are based on a wide variety of resources, including bird strike statistics, expert knowledge of bird behavior, impact studies, non-expert experience, etc.  Applying scientific research to bird strike prevention is a unique challenge. Models need to be reliable and yet general enough to cover a wide range of situations in order to be beneficial to flight safety.  In addition, research proposals and even results need to be marketed to potential users, which is often an expertise in and of itself. However, the main goal and challenge is to be able to apply scientific research results to real-time situations in order to save lives. My ongoing applied work in the field of bird strike prevention encompasses modelling bird numbers or movements at different scales as well as the microscopic identification of bird feathers and mammal hairs and the use of this data in bird strike statistics.  I have been centrally involved in the development of the Netherlands Bird Avoidance Model. The main aim of the NL-BAM is to predict the 3D + time distribution of birds in the Netherlands.  These predictions are now used as a decision support tool to improve flight safety in the Royal Netherlands Air Force.   My flight safety activities have recently expanded through the European Space Agency's  FlySafe project, where a multidisciplinary team is developing a system integrating space and non-space based technologies to improve flight safety in  Belgium and the Netherlands.

Publications

• Bowlin, M. S., Bisson, I.-A., Shamoun-Baranes, J., Reichard, J. D., Sapir, N., Marra, P. P., Kunz, T. H., Wilcove, D. S., Hedenstrom, A., Guglielmo, C. G., Akesson, S., Ramenofsky, M. & Wikelski, M. 2010. Grand Challenges in Migration Biology. Integrative and Comparative Biology, icq013. (online @) (pdf)

• Shamoun-Baranes, J., Bouten, W. & van Loon, E. E. 2010. Integrating meteorology into research on migration. Integrative and Comparative Biology, icq 011 (online @) (pdf).

• Shamoun-Baranes, J., J. Leyrer,  E. van Loon,  P. Bocher,  F. d. r. Robin, F. Meunier and T. Piersma. 2010. Stochastic atmospheric assistance and the use of emergency staging sites by migrants. Proceedings of the Royal Society B  277: 1505-1511 (online @) (pdf)

• Robinson,D., M.S. Bowlin, I. Bisson, J. Shamoun-Baranes, K. Thorup, R.H. Diehl, T.H. Kunz, S. Mabey, D.W. Winkler.in press. Integrating concepts and technologies to advance the study of bird migration. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. e-View. (pdf)

• Shamoun-Baranes, J., W. Bouten, L. Buurma, R. DeFusco, A. Dekker, H. Sierdsema, F. Sluiter, J. Van Belle, H. Van Gasteren and E. van Loon. 2008.
  Avian Information Systems: Developing Web-Based Bird Avoidance Models. Ecology and Society 13 (2): 38.(online@) (pdf)

• van Gasteren, H., I. Holleman, W. Bouten,  E.  van Loon, and J. Shamoun-Baranes. 2008. Extracting bird migration information from C-band Doppler weather radars. Ibis 150, 674-686. (online @) (pdf)

• van Belle, J., J. Shamoun-Baranes, E. van Loon, W. Bouten. 2007. An operational model predicting autumn bird migration intensities for flight safety. Journal of Applied Ecology 44: 864-874. (online @)

• Shamoun-Baranes, J., E. van Loon, F. Liechti and W. Bouten. 2007. Analyzing the effect of wind on flight: Pitfalls and solutions. Journal of Experimental Biology 210:82-90. (online @)

• Shamoun-Baranes, J., E. van Loon, D. Alon, P. Alpert, Y. Yom-Tov and Y. Leshem. 2006.  Is there a connection between weather at departure sites, onset of migration and timing of soaring bird autumn migration in Israel? Global Ecology and Biogeography 15: 541-552. (online @ & cover)

• Shamoun-Baranes, J. and E. van Loon. 2006. Energetic influence on gull flight strategy selection. Journal of Experimental Biology 209: 3489-3498. (online @)

• Shamoun-Baranes, J., van Gasteren, H., van Belle, J. van Loon, E., Bouten, W., and Buurma, L.  2006. A comparative analysis of the influence of weather on the flight altitudes of birds.  Bulletin of the Amercian Meteorological Society 87: 47-61. (available online @ AMS)

• Shamoun-Baranes, J., W. Bouten, J. van Belle, L. Buurma and H. van Gasteren.  2005.  Flight altitudes of birds.  Bulletin of the Amercian Meteorological Society 86: 18-19 (invited summary).

• Alon, D., Granit, B., Shamoun-Baranes, J., Leshem, Y., Kirwan, G. M., and H. Shirihai.  2004.  A decade of autumn soaring bird migration over northern Israel, 1990–1999.  British Birds 97: 160-182.

• Shamoun-Baranes, J., Leshem, Y., Yom-Tov, Y. and O. Liechti. 2003. Differential use of thermal convection by soaring birds over central Israel.  Condor 105:208-218. (pdf)

• Shamoun-Baranes, J., Baharad, A., Alpert, P., Berthold, P., Yom-Tov, Y., Dvir, Y.  and Y. Leshem. 2003.  The effect of wind, season and latitude on the migration speed of White Storks (Ciconia ciconia), along the eastern migration route. Journal of Avian Biology 34: 97-104. (pdf)

• Shamoun-Baranes, J., Liechti, O., Yom-Tov, Y.  and Y. Leshem. 2003.  Using a convection model to predict altitudes of white stork migration over central Israel.  Boundary Layer Meteorology 107: 673-681. (pdf)

Previous research

A few other things I enjoy