Biological Movement Analysis

This repository contains the Jupyter notebook Notebook_BirdScan.ipynb, which includes a series of Python 3 scripts developed to analyze data from the Swiss bird radar (BirdScan MR1), in the context of bird/insect movement over Amsterdam during spring migration. This radar is owned by the University of Amsterdam and was installed at ARTIS Amsterdam Royal Zoo in February 2021.

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🗕️ Project Timeline

• Radar Installation & Maintenance: February – October 2021
• Data Analysis Period: March 11, 2021 – September 1, 2021

I personally contributed to the radar’s installation, maintenance, and data collection during this period.

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🛠️ Tools & Data Sources

• Radar Manufacturer: Swiss Birdradar Solution (SBRS)
• Analysis Tool (MTR): birdscanR (R package)
  • Developed by SBRS & BirdRadar Community
  • Used to extract and calculate daily and hourly MTR from the SBRS PostgreSQL database
  • Customized for the ARTIS location and to include insect MTR
• Database Access (Movement Data): SBRS PostgreSQL via pgAdmin
  • Used SQL queries to extract raw data such as altitude, direction, speed, and classification
• Environment: Python 3, R

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📂 Data Description

• MTR Files: Calculated with the R tool and saved as .rds files in the Data/ folder:

  • Period: 20210311_20210901
  • Resolution: 3600s (hourly) or dayNight
  • Height Interval: 25m–1025m
  • Bins: 1bin
  • Echo Types:
    • in: insects
    • pawaswlabifl: various bird types
  • Rotation: rot
  • Pulse: pulse-S (short-pulse only)

• Movement Data File: Extracted using pgAdmin and saved as data_20210907.csv

  • Includes target altitude, speed, direction, and classification
  • SQL query used: query_pgAdmin.sql

⚠️ Note: Access to the BirdScan database requires permission from SBRS.

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📓 Notebook Overview

Part 1: Monthly and Hourly MTR Trends

• Visualizes daily and hourly MTR for March–September 2021
• Based on .rds files generated with the birdscanR tool

Part 2: Target Classification & Movement Metrics

• Analyzes altitude, direction, and speed of different targets (birds/insects)
• Based on raw data extracted from the PostgreSQL database using SQL (via pgAdmin)

Part 3: Environmental Correlation

• Explores the relationship between insect MTR and air temperature at ARTIS
• Combines radar MTR data with local temperature observations

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📊 Results Summary

A PDF presentation summarizing key findings is available here:
📄 BirdScan_Analysis_20211008.pdf

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📬 Contact

For questions or access permissions, please contact SBRS or the BirdRadar Community.

You can also reach me at: leonardo.porcacchia@gmail.com