• Do you know how the aerial footprint of a bat looks like? Modern laser technique allows us to visualize the wakes generated in the air behind the flying bat. So far, three different wake structures can be described: the tip-vortex, which is the main structure, the root-vortex and the reversed-vortex. Use the buttons below the bat to highlight the different vortex structures.

    Move mouse and press CTRL-Key to rotate or press ALT-key to zoom.

    To see the interactive simulation in here, download the Unity3D-Plugin now.

  • Vortex wakes

    To imagin a vortex wake, think of a donut. A wake is always a circular structure which looks a lot like a donut. In bats each wing has its own wake consisting of tip and root vortex. If you cut this wake in half you will find one vortex rotating in the clockwise and one in the counterclockwise direction. The reversed vortex loop is an isolated wake occuring at the end of the upstroke of each wing and rotating in the opposite direction than the wing wake.