AbstractsEngineering

This study aims to design a robust and efficient monitoring system for analyzing the bird migration data for wind farm applications. This system is able to process thermal image sequence data and output accurate results suitable for interpretation by wild life biologists. An IR video processing algorithm has been proposed which meets the IR video processing requirement for this project. The propose algorithm consists of background subtraction and consecutive frame subtraction, frame selection, 3-D region labeling and breakpoint recovery. It has been simulated for performance evaluation. It is then used to process spring 2011 bird migration data that has been collected in Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in Ohio. Results from this study will be useful for wild life biologists to make intelligent decision for siting of wind turbines. It will also help policy makers to develop an appropriate public policy for wind farm development in an area with extensive avian activity.