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Albatross flight and dynamic soaring

A study of the flight of albatrosses, how they extract energy from the wind, and how they soar around the world with almost no flapping of their wings (dynamic soaring). A recent study is of wandering albatross flight speed with respect to the wind as measured by GPS and an investigation of the first observations of dynamic soaring by Leonardo da Vinci 500 years ago.

Publications

Richardson, P. L., 2022. High Speed Dynamic Soaring. The New RC Soaring Digest, December 2022, Vol. 37, No. 12. This paper was originally published in April 2012 RC Soaring Digest and appears here with new photos.

Richardson P. L., Wakefield E. D., 2022. Observations and models of across-wind flight speed of the wandering albatross. Royal Society Open Science 9: 211364. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211364.

Richardson, P. L., 2018. Leonardo da Vinci’s discovery of birds dynamic soaring in wind shear.  Royal Society Notes & Records, doi:10.1098/rsnr.2018.0024.

Richardson, P. L., Wakefield. E. D., Phillips, R. A., 2018. Flight speed and performance of the wandering albatross with respect to the wind. Movement Ecology 6:3, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-018-0121-9.

Richardson, P. L., 2017. Da Vinci’s observations of soaring birds. Physics Today 70 (11), 78-79.

Richardson, P. L., 2015. Upwind dynamic soaring of albatrosses and UAV’s. Progress in Oceanography 130, 146-156.

Richardson, P. L., 2012. High-speed robotic albatross: Unmanned aerial vehicle powered by dynamic soaring. Radio-Controlled Soaring Digest 29, 4-18.

Richardson, P. L., 2011. How do albatrosses fly around the world without flapping their wings? Progress in Oceanography 88, 46-58.

Other related

Showstack, Randy, 2022. New Research Unlocks Clues About the Iconic Flight of the Wandering Albatross. WHOI Media Release 12/8/2022.

Kren, J., 8 October 2018. Leonardo da Vinci's take on dynamic soaring, http:/blog.royalsociety.org/publishing/Leonardo-da-Vinci.

Richardson, P. L., 2014. Birds and dynamic soaring: Can a bird use dynamic soaring in a steady homogenous wind? British Ornithologists’ Union Blog, 4 March 2014. https://www.bou.org.uk/birds-and-dynamic-soaring/

Richardson, P. L. 2014. When getting distracted is good for discovery, Interview with Heather Goldstone, WCAI, Living lab Radio, The Point, May 5, 2014. http://capeandislands.org/post/when-getting-distracted-good-discovery#stream/0

Lippsett, Lonny, 2012. A robotic albatross? Soaring seabirds offer lessons on glider technology. Oceanus, July 29, 2012. http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/a-robotic-albatross

Caplan, Jeremy, 2011, Of wings, waves, and winds. WHOI oceanographer explores the mysteries of albatross flight. Oceanus, March 17, 2011. http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/of-wings--waves--and-winds

 

 

Soaring wandering albatross, schematic flight trajectory, and analyzed GPS flight speed as a function of wind speed and direction (2018).

Schematic dynamic soaring maneuver of a wandering albatross (after Sachs 2005) (2018).

Composite image showing a robotic unmanned aerial vehicle (RC glider) and a black-browed albatross soaring over the ocean (2012).