Fifty years of wildlife science has been built on transmitter-acquired data revealing local movements, long-distance migrations, home ranges sizes, habitat use, resource selection, and population size, density, survival rates and fecundity of terrestrial, avian and marine species. Introduced in 1986, the Argos satellite system was break-through technology for studying long-distance movements because of its ability to automatically acquire locations of wildlife anywhere in the world. Despite its successful track record there are obstacles that hinder the Argos system?s utility and availability. Argos has limited bandwidth for transmitting large amounts of fine-scale Global Positioning System (GPS) locations and behavioral data. Heavy batteries for generating transmissions strong enough to be received by satellites increase the instrument?s weight, and many terrestrial based study animals have difficulty transmitting to satellites due to the low trajectory of some satellites in rugged terrain and uncontrolled RF interference. High costs of purchase and data retrieval is limiting for many projects. Our proposed hybrid satellite and short-distance transceiver system overcomes bandwidth and power obstacles by retrieving most of the stored GSP locations and behavior data when the study animal returns to predictable locations such as a nest, den or frequently-used trails and feeding sites. Inexpensive, short-range transceiver stations installed at these locations can efficiently receive large archives of fine-scale GPS locations and sensor data. By integrating an Argos satellite transmitter with a short-range transceiver, onboard logic can activate the Argos transmitter if the study animal moves out of range of the transceiver stations thus alerting the biologist to the animal?s new location and the option to install an inexpensive fixed transceiver station at the new location.
Currently scientists using remote sensing data systems are restricted to "off the shelf" end products that must work for many different questions and systems. The most significant impact of this project is that it provides scientists the opportunity to be equal partners with the electrical engineers in developing the unique tools necessary to find answers to the complex and demanding environmental issues. Our proposed hybrid transmitter system will provide biological and earth scientists with a system that will transfer large amounts of fine-scale data very quickly from custom designed data acquisition platforms to the laboratory. In addition to solving technical issues, this proposal will overcome the obstacles of high prices and the limited features by transferring the skills to perform the final assembly and configuration of transmitters to the biologists and technicians at research organizations where there is first-hand experience and motivation to create innovative and customized combinations of batteries, antennas and attachment methods that match individual species and study objectives. Only the core circuit boards and firmware will be produced by a commercial vender which, once developed, can be produced for a fraction of the current pricing for finished satellite transmitters. Workshops at conferences and Beringia South?s Wyoming research facility will widely disseminate these valuable skills with the goal of changing the way that innovative new configurations of transmitters are designed, built and distributed. PROJECT SUMMARY This is an IBDR proposal to design a new and affordable type of wildlife tracking system that integrates Argos satellite tracking with short-range high data-rate transceivers and to develop a new production and distribution paradigm that will make satellite transmitters more accessible, innovative and responsive to the expanding needs of the wildlife research community.
