Radar Aeroecology

Introduction to the article: Aeroecology is an emerging discipline founded by Tom Kunz and colleagues in the early 2000s to address the challenges of studying animal flight in the lower atmosphere. By this time, radar biology had a long history of both site-based studies that employ small specialized radar units and regional studies using weather surveillance radars. This research was largely the purview of a few specialists with access to radar equipment or data from national radar networks. Since that time advances in computing and tracking technologies have revolutionized the possibilities for studying life in the air. Rapid expansion of the utility of radar for understanding flying animals is evinced in the breadth of studies contained in this Special Issue. The diversity of taxa studied has grown beyond what was imagined a decade ago. As impressive as this growth has been, globalization of this research endeavor has been even more profound. Finally, the disciplinary diversity of scientists contributing to radar aeroecology is a harbinger of future growth of this approach to understanding life in the air.