Modeling and Simulation Group Meeting

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Modeling bird soaring with transient turbulent fluctuations

Speaker: Danyun He, Flatiron Institute

Location: Warren Weaver Hall 517

Date: Thursday, March 13, 2025, 12:30 p.m.

Synopsis:

The ability of birds to soar in the atmosphere is a fascinating scientific problem. It relies on an interplay between the physical processes governing atmospheric flows, and the capacity of birds to process cues from their environment and learn complex navigational strategies. Previous models for soaring have primarily taken advantage of thermals of ascending hot air to gain energy. Yet, it remains unclear whether energy loss due to drag can be overcome by extracting work from transient turbulent fluctuations. In this talk, I will present a recent work that we look at the alternative scenario of a glider navigating in an idealized model of a turbulent fluid where no thermals are present.