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Avian wing geometry and kinematics of a free-flying barn owl in flapping flight

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Abstract

This paper presents results of high-resolution three-dimensional wing shape measurements performed on free-flying barn owls in flapping flight. The applied measurement technique is introduced together with a moving camera set-up, allowing for an investigation of the free flapping flight of birds with high spatial and temporal resolution. Based on the three-dimensional surface data, a methodology for parameterizing the wing profile along with wing kinematics during flapping flight has been developed. This allowed a description of the spanwise varying kinematics and aerodynamic parameters (e.g. effective angles of attack, camber, thickness) of the wing in dependence on the flapping phase. The results are discussed in detail using the data of a single flight, whereas a comparison of some kinematic parameters obtained from different flights is given too.

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Acknowledgments

This investigation was partly funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG) within the priority program SPP-1207, “Nature Inspired Fluid Mechanics”. The authors were also much obliged to the RWTH Aachen University for providing the animals and the infrastructure to perform the tests. The authors would like to thank Thomas Erlinghagen (Institute of Biology II, RWTH Aachen) for his support and training of the birds during the measurement campaign, as well as Thomas Doster and Daniel Kurz for their assistance.

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  1. Department Experimental Methods, Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology, German Aerospace Center, Göttingen, Germany

    Thomas Wolf & Robert Konrath

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  1. Thomas Wolf
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  2. Robert Konrath
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Correspondence to Thomas Wolf.

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Wolf, T., Konrath, R. Avian wing geometry and kinematics of a free-flying barn owl in flapping flight. Exp Fluids 56, 28 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-015-1898-6

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