Big data is helping Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lower the risk of bird strike, adding to patrols and barriers set up to protect airplanes from dangerous collisions with animals.
Birds and other flying creatures pose a significant danger to aircraft, particularly during takeoff and landing, as they are more likely to encounter animals at lower altitudes.
Damage caused by bird strikes varies depending on the size of the aircraft and location of impact, but can lead to fatal consequences.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Co
The airport has over the past few years adopted a number of strategies to secure its airspace to great effect.
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Co on Tuesday said that air traffic has decreased significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the airport seeing nearly 300 arrivals and departures per day.
The number of bird strikes has dropped accordingly, extending its downward trend from 39 strikes in 2018 and 23 in 2019 to only five last year, company data showed.
The firm had received an award for excellence in preventing bird strikes, as it had recorded a lower strike rate than targeted from 2017 to last year.
However, the trend seems to be reversing.
Although the number of flights over the first nine months was down 16 percent from the same period last year, the number of bird strikes was up slightly from the average, the company said.
This is due mainly to the area around the airport being a breeding and roosting ground for birds, it said, adding that the breeding season of many local species fell within the first half of the year.
To better understand their habits, the airport operator said it has been working with the Wild Bird Society of Taoyuan to set up a database with observations and other records.
Based on the data, the company would create monthly bird activity forecasts to inform professionals at the airport about which species might fly a certain altitudes at certain times, it said.
The company said that it is also seeking to make the airport grounds less attractive to birds by removing areas where they might roost as well as find water and food.
In August the firm started an initiative that surveys insect populations to better understand the birds’ food sources and general ecology of the area, it added.
Siren, buzzer and gun sounds are also employed to drive birds away during times of peak activity from 6am to 8am and 4pm to 6pm every day, the company said.
If a flock suddenly descends on a runway, it might be temporarily closed until they can be driven off, it added.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to