Diehl, R.H., Cryan, P.M., and Valdez, E.W., 2015, Data Recordings from the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) Facility Recorded by the USGS during Spring and Fall 2014: U.S. Geological Survey data release, http://dx.doi.org/10.5066/F7GM85DN.
Summary
In this observational pilot study, we worked at the largest existing solar tower facility in the world (Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System - ISEGS) to assess the efficacy of using radar, surveillance video, and insect trapping to monitor animals flying near the towers. During week-long site visits in May and September, we monitored the airspace surrounding towers and observed insects, occasional birds, and bats under a variety of environmental and operational conditions. This dataset is comprised of the unedited digital video imagery we gathered during those site visits. There are four types of video imagery included in the data set: (1) "EMCCD camera" is the output of an electron multiplying charge-coupled-device camera (model [...]
Summary
In this observational pilot study, we worked at the largest existing solar tower facility in the world (Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System - ISEGS) to assess the efficacy of using radar, surveillance video, and insect trapping to monitor animals flying near the towers. During week-long site visits in May and September, we monitored the airspace surrounding towers and observed insects, occasional birds, and bats under a variety of environmental and operational conditions. This dataset is comprised of the unedited digital video imagery we gathered during those site visits. There are four types of video imagery included in the data set: (1) "EMCCD camera" is the output of an electron multiplying charge-coupled-device camera (model Hitachi KP-E500) operating in the near-infrared spectrum of light that was used image the top of a solar tower (Tower 3) during the nights of 14-18 May 2014. (2) "thermal camera" is the output of a surveillance camera that imaged in the thermal-infrared spectrum of light (model Axis Communications Q1921-E) that was used to monitor the tops of three solar towers and adjacent airspace from 14-22 May and 2-10 September 2014. (3) "ultraviolet camera" is the output of a camera that imaged in the ulraviolet spectrum of light (model Oculus Photonics UV-Corder) and was used to record miscellaneous imagery around the solar facility during May and September observation periods in 2014. (4) "WDR camera" is imagery gathered by wide-dynamic range, high-definition surveillance cameras that imaged in the visible spectrum of light (model Axis Communications Q1614-E) ---these cameras were used with various zoom lenses and were positioned both on the ground (most of May and September observations), but then mounted higher on a solar tower for closer imaging during the last two days of the September observation period. With the exception of the output of the ultraviolet camera, all video imagery is time (Pacific DST) and date stamped. In general, video monitoring proved useful for detecting and/or identifying some of the animals or objects moving through the airspace generally and near solar towers.
Locational information associated with the towers from which recordings were captured:
Coordinate information based on UTM Projection, Zone 11 (Datum: NAD 1983_CORS96, Ellipsoid: GRS_1980)
These data support the following publication:
Diehl, R. H, E. W. Valdez, T. M. Preston, M. J. Wellik, and P. M. Cryan. 2016. Evaluating the effectiveness of wildlife detection and observation technologies at a solar power tower facility. PLOS ONE.
Solar power towers produce electrical energy from sunlight at an industrial scale. Little is known about the effects of this emerging technology on flying animals. Bird mortality attributable to collisions and burn injuries were reported at a solar tower in the 1980's and more recently at a new, larger facility. Smoking objects are sometimes observed co-occurring with reflected, concentrated light ("solar flux") in the airspace around solar towers, yet the identity and origins of such objects can be difficult to determine. Because of the large size of new solar towers (taller than 40-story buildings), few established methods exist for observing animals flying near them. This was a pilot study to experiment with different types of observational technologies for determining the presence and identity of animals and objects flying in the airspace near the tops of solar power towers and is not appropriate for quantitative analysis. Sample sizes were small, camera views were changed frequently, and it is difficult to establish visual perspective in the video imagery due to its 2-dimensional nature and the distance at which the towers were imaged (greater than approximately 100 m away). This imagery was not gathered in a systematic enough way to draw inference beyond anecdotal observations.
