GICON Ecosystems at the 8th Conference on Wind Energy and Wildlife Impacts (CWW 2025) in France
GICON® is showcasing its digital aerial survey systems DAISI and DAVIS for monitoring avifauna and marine mammals.
On September 8, the doors of the “8th Conference on Wind Energy and Wildlife Impacts” will open in Montpellier, France. The GICON® Ecosystems GmbH is a Silver Sponsor of the event and will be present with its own exhibition booth.
Strong expertise in digital aerial survey systems
Ecosystems, with five branches in Northern Germany, has been regularly conducting digital aerial surveys of migratory birds and marine mammals for more than ten years, making it one of the most experienced companies in this field. Two systems are used – DAISI and DAVIS.
“With both systems, we can meet all requirements arising for our clients in connection with regulatory baseline surveys of migratory birds and marine mammals in offshore areas,” explains Dr. Gunnar Stigge, Authorized Signatory of Ecosystems. “With our systems, we can reliably deliver the required data.”
DAISI – Digital Aerial Imagery System
The DAISI system, developed by GICON® Ecosystems, is used for recording birds and marine mammals at very high spatial resolution. High-precision georeferencing allows particularly accurate documentation of the distribution of individuals, for example along natural gradients or around anthropogenic structures such as wind farms or pipelines.
“With the digital flight system, we can also accurately determine the body length of individual animals, which is often a great help for our experts in distinguishing between similar species,” adds Dr. Stigge.
DAVIS – Digital Aerial Video Imaging System
DAVIS enables species mapping with sufficiently precise georeferencing, particularly in relation to disturbance distances to wind turbines. The system can capture up to seven frames per second.
Legal certainty for project developers
The imaging systems operate at altitudes of 580 m (DAVIS) and 700 m (DAISI) and are therefore particularly suitable for use over offshore wind farms for aviation safety reasons. In addition, these flight altitudes are mostly above the individual disturbance thresholds of many seabird species.
The image data from each survey are redundantly stored on in-house servers, ensuring that the study results are available and verifiable at any time with the highest level of data security for clients and authorities.
AI-supported image analysis
The use of AI-based software in image evaluation also helps to reduce processing times. Extensive quality assurance processes carried out by a team of experienced experts in ornithology and marine mammals continuously improve the precision of the AI and ensure correct identification of species or species groups.
The quality-assured data provide the basis for extensive scientific analyses, legally robust expert reports, and thus planning security for project developers.
GICON® Ecosystems employs more than 150 staff members at its locations in Rostock, Hamburg, Greifswald, Göttingen, and Neu Broderstorf. In addition to the fields of ornithology and marine mammal research, staff also work in areas such as fisheries biology, benthology, and bat ecology.