A Quantitative Estimation Method of Migrating Insects Using Weather Radar by High Resolution Radar Joint Observation

The main migration animals in China are insects, and a large number of large-scale seasonal migration insects have a great impact on ecology. The establishment of a comprehensive early warning system for migratory insects necessitates the implementation of large-scale macro monitoring. Among the array of methodologies available, weather radar stands out as an efficacious tool for facilitating extensive macro-level monitoring. Nonetheless, several unresolved challenges persist in accurately quantifying the density of vast insect populations on a large scale. This article introduces an innovative method for insect quantification through the collaborative use of weather radar and high-resolution phased array radar for insect target observation and joint data analysis. This novel method harnesses the collective observational data derived from both weather radar and high-resolution radar systems, harmonizing the temporal and spatial dimensions of these datasets. By establishing a nuanced mapping correlation between insect density and weather radar reflectivity, this method enables the determination of insect density within specific geographical regions. In the final part of this article, joint observation experiments were conducted to examine the experimental data collected from operating weather radar and specialized phased array radar systems. A total of 244 days of data were analysed, and the proposed method was rigorously validated.