Gusts keep albatrosses aloft

• Autores: Juliet A. Vickery, M. de L. Brooke
• Localización: Trends in ecology and evolution, ISSN 0169-5347, Vol. 17, Nº 6, 2002, pág. 253
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • How does an albatross soar over the ocean, sometimes rolling to the left or to the right, but rarely flapping its immense wings? The simplest answer is that it makes use of winds that are deflected upwards from the waves. If the bird's sinking speed whilst gliding is the same as the speed of the updraft in which it flies, it can stay aloft by slope soaring. The alternative mechanism, which was considered to be more widely used, exploits the wind gradient that prevails above the sea. Because wind speed increases with height, an albatross climbing into the wind maintains airspeed and gains height, albeit slowing relative to the sea. From the top of such pull-ups, the albatross can gain additional airspeed by descending, more or less downwind, through the wind gradient.