Radar specialist company DeTect has developed and manufactured a new Avian Radar System ‘Merlin‘ which is aimed at protecting birds and bats from colliding with wind turbines.

The company believes the technology can provide ‘real-time risk mitigation’ and already have over 50 systems operating worldwide. DeTect say the system can be used at operating wind farms to provide an “early warning system of bird activity that presents mortality risk, automatically engaging response mitigation actions up to and including idling of turbines until the risk passes.”

The Merlin radar technology was, according to DeTect developed for the US Air Force and NASA as a precision bird detection radar system to provide information to controllers and launch managers to reduce bird-aircraft strike risk.

Most birds take avoiding action to fly around wind farms. However if there is a species of particular concern, radar could provide the answer.