Satellite Tags- Hawaii EEZ

Satellite tagging was implemented in 2013. Satellite tagging is conducted using a Dan Inject air rifle and deployment arrows designed by Wildlife Computers. Two types of tags are deployed. One type is a Wildlife Computers SPOT5-240C tag that collects location and temperature. The other tag type is the Wildlife Computers SPLASH10-292B, which provides location as well as depth, temperature, and light level.

Satellite tagging is used to study the movements and habitat use of individuals. Additionally, SPLASH10 tags provide information on the dive behavior of individuals.

IRC

1845 Wasp Blvd., Bldg. 176

Honolulu, HI 96818

In the future, the data will be publicly available on the Animal Tracking Network. Until then, requests should be made by contacting marie.hill@noaa.gov

The user is responsible for the results of any application of these data.

The NMFS permit number (listed within the dataset) under which the data were collected must be listed in any publications and/or other representations of these data.

Acknowledgement of NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center's Cetacean Research Program, as the source from which these data were obtained, in any publications and/or other representations of these data is requested.

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Satellite tag data from successful deployments are included within this data set.

The following processing is carried out at the Argos global processing centers:

Verification of message quality, reception level, time-tagging, transmitter identification number, sensor message lengths and receiver frequency value (to compute the location)

Message time-tagging in coordinated universal time (UTC)

Message classification by platform and by chronological order

Data processing

After the data are received from Argos and uploaded to Movebank.org we apply the Douglas Argos (DAR) filter to determine outliers based on the following user defined variables: maximum redundant distance (consecutive points separated by less than a defined distance are kept by the filter because ARGOS location errors rarely occur in the same place, so very close temporally consecutive points are assumed to be self-confirming); location classes (LCs) that are automatically retained; maximum sustainable rate of movement; and the rate coefficient (Ratecoef) for assessing the angle created by three consecutive points. The rate coefficient algorithm takes into account that the farther an animal moves between locations, the less likely it is to return to or near to the original location without any intervening positions, creating an acute angle characteristic of typical ARGOS error. Locations were retained if they were separated from the next location by less than a maximum redundant distance of 3 km, as well as LC2 and LC3 locations (estimated error of <500 and <250 m, respectively; ARGOS User’s Manual). LC1 locations (with estimated error of between 500 and 1500 m), as well as LC0, LCA, LCB, and LCZ locations (with no estimation of accuracy), were only retained if they passed the Douglas ARGOS Filter process. The maximum sustainable rate of movement used was 20 kph for false killer whales, bottlenose dolphins, and rough-toothed dolphins, and 15 kph for short-finned pilot whales and melon-headed whales. These were based on maximum travel speeds noted during observations of fast traveling individuals in Hawai‘i (Baird et al. 2013). The default Ratecoef for marine mammals was used (Ratecoef = 25).

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Data are backed up to and internal PIFSC server and multiple hard drives stored in secure locations.

Argos transmitters upload short duration messages (of less than one second) to Argos instruments on satellites that pass overhead at an altitude of 850 km.

Each platform is characterized by an identification number specific to its transmitter. A platform transmits periodic messages characterized by the following parameters :

Transmission Frequency (401.650 MHz ± 30 kHz, which must be stable as the location is computed on the basis of Doppler effect measurements, the Repetition period, which is the interval of time between two consecutive message dispatches, varying between 15 and 90 seconds according to the extent to which the platform is used, the platform identification number, and the volume of data collected. The transmission of each message takes less than one second.

The three main receiving stations, Wallops Island and Fairbanks in the United States and Svalbard in Norway, collect all the messages recorded by the satellites during an orbit, thus providing coverage of the entire Earth.

Data received by the satellites are retransmitted to regional stations in real time if the station is within satellite visibility. The main receiving stations also receive data in real time. There are two global Argos processing centers, one located just outside of Toulouse in Southwestern France, and the other near Washington, DC, USA. Once the data arrive at a processing center, locations are automatically calculated and information made available to users.

In the two processing centers, designed for full redundancy, the computers calculate locations and process the received data.

The following processing is carried out at the global processing centers:

Verification of message quality, reception level, time-tagging, transmitter identification number, sensor message lengths and receiver frequency value (to compute the location)

Message time-tagging in coordinated universal time (UTC)

Message classification by platform and by chronological order

Data processing

After the data are received from Argos and uploaded to Movebank.org we apply the Douglas Argos (DAR) filter to determine outliers based on the following user defined variables: maximum redundant distance (consecutive points separated by less than a defined distance are kept by the filter because ARGOS location errors rarely occur in the same place, so very close temporally consecutive points are assumed to be self-confirming); location classes (LCs) that are automatically retained; maximum sustainable rate of movement; and the rate coefficient (Ratecoef) for assessing the angle created by three consecutive points. The rate coefficient algorithm takes into account that the farther an animal moves between locations, the less likely it is to return to or near to the original location without any intervening positions, creating an acute angle characteristic of typical ARGOS error. Locations were retained if they were separated from the next location by less than a maximum redundant distance of 3 km, as well as LC2 and LC3 locations (estimated error of <500 and <250 m, respectively; ARGOS User’s Manual). LC1 locations (with estimated error of between 500 and 1500 m), as well as LC0, LCA, LCB, and LCZ locations (with no estimation of accuracy), were only retained if they passed the Douglas ARGOS Filter process. The maximum sustainable rate of movement used was 20 kph for false killer whales, bottlenose dolphins, and rough-toothed dolphins, and 15 kph for short-finned pilot whales and melon-headed whales. These were based on maximum travel speeds noted during observations of fast traveling individuals in Hawai‘i (Baird et al. 2013). The default Ratecoef for marine mammals was used (Ratecoef = 25).