Spatial features of terrain reflected in pigeon flights

Abstract

In this work,we studied the properties of pigeon flight trajectories over combined cross-country and urban terrain. We considered GPS tracks of pigeons returning home from two distant sites; birds flew separately and finished at the same endpoint. Spatial analysis of flight paths and directions was used to identify “flight corridors” and regions of interest along the bird trajectories. The visual characteristics of the territories over which pigeons flew were calculated using remote sensing data from open sources. The resulting distinctive zones along flight trajectories and visual features of the landscape were compared. It was found that the “flight corridors” correspond to real objects and areas in the terrain. The results of study showed that spatial features of the terrain can be reflected in the routes of pigeon flights and it is possible to identify sets of significant objects and areas based on the data about flight paths. In the study spatial data were processed using the geographical information system QGIS.