Aviation authorities in the U.S. and France are examining new ways to reduce the risk of birdstrikes on airport approaches, although they are testing very different types of technology.

FAA plans to conduct a one-year trial at Dallas/Fort Worth and New York Kennedy airports. This trial involves a radar made by DeTect, Inc. that is specifically designed to detect birds on airport approaches. Meanwhile, French authorities are testing a laser system at the Montpellier airport that has proved effective in scaring birds away.

DeTect Inc. VP T. Adam Kelly said the bird radar has already been used at DFW in a test arranged directly with the airport. A contract for the new - and more extensive - FAA trial will be negotiated in the next 12 months, Kelly said. DFW is interested in birdstrike technology to make it easier to monitor the facility's massive footprint, while New York Kennedy Airport has a long-standing bird problem because it is located on the coast and close to a wildlife reserve.

The DeTect radar doesn't do anything to actually scare birds away, but it can make the bird-scaring efforts much more effective, Kelly said. For example, the radar can show ground-based bird-control staff where they should concentrate their efforts, instead of relying on human vision or pre-set patrol routes.

DeTect also is working with NASA and the U.S. Air Force on bird monitoring. NASA uses the radar system at Kennedy Space Center to check on the presence of birds directly above the Space Shuttle before it launches. The Air Force uses the radar at some of its low-altitude bombing ranges and a few airfields. At the Louisville, Ky., airport, a neighboring landfill operator is using the bird radar to prove that it is not creating too much of a bird problem for the airport. U.K. aviation authorities have bought radar systems to assess birdstrike risks at airports.

French company Lord Ingenierie demonstrated its TOM500 laser system at the coastal Montpellier airport for a year beginning in July 2005. The laser reduced birdstrikes during that time. The system was taken out, and during the following 12 months birdstrike reports increased again.

Aviation officials in France certified the TOM500 system last year, and the Beauvais airport bought a system that is scheduled to be installed this week. The Barcelona airport has also placed an order.

TOM500 is an automated system that directs a green laser light along the ground to scare away bird flocks. One of the advantages of the system is that it works best in low light, when it is often harder to use more traditional bird-scaring methods. The light is safe for the human eye, and pilots reported no vision problems during the Montpellier trial.