Mayflies mate in mid-air. Monarch butterflies make cross-continental flights. And dragonflies hunt as they soar. But despite how much insect activity happens in the air, scientists haven’t had a clear sense of insects’ abundance there. Now a team has found a way to estimate the density of insects in airspace using weather radar data. The approach could provide new clues about climate change’s impact on insects.
“Using radar to look at insects is a great moment to wonder about the rich animal life that is above our heads,” says Elske Tielens. An aero-ecologist, she studies interactions between organisms in the air. She works at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research in Zurich.
Scientists Say: Radar
Scientists have long spied on tiny objects in the air using radar. Radar stations across the contiguous United States surveil the air for water drops, snow and hail. “But using it for insects, somehow, is something that we haven’t thought too much about,” Tielens says.
Radar sends out radio waves and analyzes the waves that bounce bac...
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