Argos PTT Tracking Database

A repository of all ARGOS satellite messages from 1982 to present. Trackers have been used on AWS stations, buoys and numerous species of whales, seals and seabirds.
ARGOS is a means of sending data back from PTT devices - Position Tracking Terminals.  However, the subject does not necessarily have to be moving - as in the case of the Automatic Weather Stations (AWS), which use ARGOS for relaying meteorological data back to Australia.
Animal species that have been or are currently monitored by the Australian Antarctic Program using the ARGOS system include:
Grey-headed Albatross
Black-browed Albatross
Light mantled sooty albatross
Australian Fur Seal
Antarctic Fur Seal
Weddell Seal
Ross seal
Crabeater seal
Southern Elephant Seal
Emperor Penguin
King Penguin
Macaroni Penguin
Adelie Penguin
Pygmy Blue Whale
Locations in which the ARGOS system is/was being used by the Australian Antarctic Program are:
Admiralty Bay
Albatross Island
Almagro
Auster Rookery
Bechervaise Island
Cape Gantheaume
Caroline Cove
Casey
Davis
Diego Ramirez
Dumont d'Urville, Base
Edmonson Point
Ildefonso
Inexpressible Island
Macquarie Island
Magnetic Island
Pedra Branca
Scullin Monolith
Shirley Island
Spit Bay
Taylor Rookery
Ufs Island
Each day, data is retrieved via telnet client from the ARGOS site in France. A batch process parses the data files and inserts into the Data Centre database by 0800 local time. End-users can subscribe to an email describing the recent data uploads. 
Web-based tools are provided to filter the data by bounding box, time span and type of message quality. Finally a optional velocity filter can be applied to remove spurious positions that should not be reachable by that particular species. For example, seal data can be filtered for positions that would require speeds in excess of 10 km/hr. The same tool ascribes species, gender, age class and breeding status to each set of data. 
A separate control allows the filtered data to be published to the general public and/or to OBIS and GBIF via web services.
Output products include maps, excel spreadsheets and KML files for mapping data on Google Earth.

Tags: AMD, AMD/AU, ANTABIF, ANTARCTIC MARINE LIVING RESOURCES, ANTARCTICA, ARGOS > ARGOS Data Collection and Position Location System, BIOLOGY, CAML > CENSUS OF ANTARCTIC MARINE LIFE, CEOS, COML > CENSUS OF MARINE LIFE, CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA, EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > BIRDS > ALBATROSSES/PETRELS AND AL, EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > BIRDS > PENGUINS, EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > MAMMALS > CARNIVORES > SEALS/SEA L, EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > MAMMALS > CETACEANS > BALEEN WHALE, EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SEA ICE > ICE EDGES, EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SEA ICE > ICE EXTENT, EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SEA ICE > ICEBERGS, EARTH SCIENCE > CRYOSPHERE > SEA ICE > PACK ICE, EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN CIRCULATION > OCEAN CURRENTS, EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN CIRCULATION > WIND-DRIVEN CIRCULATION, EBA > Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic, GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR, GLACIOLOGY, IPY > INTERNATIONAL POLAR YEAR, OBIS > OCEAN BIOGEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM, OBIS/AADC, OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN, OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN > HEARD AND MCDONALD ISLANDS, OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN > MACQUARIE ISLAND, OCEANOGRAPHY, SATELLITE, SCAR-MARBIN > SCAR Marine Biodiversity Information Network, SOUTHERN OCEAN
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network