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 enumerates invertebrates captured using both malaise and funnel traps placed on the ground in the immediate vicinity of solar towers in the locations shown in Figure 2 of the associated paper. The locational information below therefore is associated [...]
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 enumerates invertebrates captured using both malaise and funnel traps placed on the ground in the immediate vicinity of solar towers in the locations shown in Figure 2 of the associated paper. The locational information below therefore is associated with the tower area under examination, not the locations of individual traps. Locational Information Associated with the Towers from which Recordings were Captured: Tower 2 Recording start date: 9/3/2014 Recording end date: 9/11/2014 Easting (X location, UTM meters): 638651 Northing (Y location, UTM meters): 3935824 UTM Zone: 11 North Altitude above sea level (meters): 925 Tower 3 Recording start date: 5/15/2014 Recording end date: 5/21/2014 Easting (X location, UTM meters): 637472 Northing (Y location, UTM meters): 3937887 UTM Zone: 11 North Altitude above sea level (meters): 972 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. These data were not gathered in a systematic enough way to draw inference beyond anecdotal observations.