Cited by 78Marine animal studies overviewUnderwater Vehicles and Communication SystemsInertial Sensor and Navigation

Tools for integrating inertial sensor data with video bio-loggers, including estimation of animal orientation, motion, and position

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Cade, David E., Gough, William T., Czapanskiy, Max F., Fahlbusch, James A., Kahane-Rapport, Shirel R., Linsky, Jacob M. J., Nichols, Ross C., Oestreich, William K. +3 more·2021·Animal Biotelemetry

Abstract

Bio-logging devices equipped with inertial measurement units—particularly accelerometers, magnetometers, and pressure sensors—have revolutionized our ability to study animals as necessary electronics have gotten smaller and more affordable over the last two decades. These animal-attached tags allow for fine scale determination of behavior in the absence of direct observation, particularly useful in the marine realm, where direct observation is often impossible, and recent devices can integrate more power hungry and sensitive instruments, such as hydrophones, cameras, and physiological sensors. To convert the raw voltages recorded by bio-logging sensors into biologically meaningful metrics of orientation (e.g., pitch, roll and heading), motion (e.g., speed, specific acceleration) and position (e.g., depth and spatial coordinates), we developed a series of MATLAB tools and online instructional tutorials. Our tools are adaptable for a variety of devices, though we focus specifically on the integration of video, audio, 3-axis accelerometers, 3-axis magnetometers, 3-axis gyroscopes, pressure, temperature, light and GPS data that are the standard outputs from Customized Animal Tracking Solutions (CATS) video tags. Our tools were developed and tested on cetacean data but are designed to be modular and adaptable for a variety of marine and terrestrial species. In this text, we describe how to use these tools, the theories and ideas behind their development, and ideas and additional tools for applying the outputs of the process to biological research. We additionally explore and address common errors that can occur during processing and discuss future applications. All code is provided open source and is designed to be useful to both novice and experienced programmers.

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  • With these tools, researchers can reconstruct sensorimotor loops in free-ranging animals, revealing how vocalizations line up with movement, habitat use, and even social interactions.

    “With these tools, we can reconstruct sensorimotor loops in free-ranging animals, revealing how vocalizations line up with movement, habitat use, and even social interactions (Cade et al. 2021).”

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1 of the 85 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Johnson M. Measuring the orientation and movement of marine animals using inertial and magnetic sensors-a tutorial. Fine-scale animal move- ment workshop. Australia: Hobart; 2011.
  2. Wilson R, Wilson M-P. Dead reckoning: a new technique for determining penguim movements at sea. Meeresforschung. 1988;32:155-8.

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Authors
Cade, D. E., Gough, W. T., Czapanskiy, M. F., Fahlbusch, J. A., Kahane-Rapport, S. R., Linsky, J. M. J., Nichols, R. C., Oestreich, W. K., Wisniewska, D. M., Friedlaender, A. S., & Goldbogen, J. A.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
  • Hopkins Marine Station (US)
  • Cascadia Research Collective (US)
  • The University of Queensland (AU)
Corresponding author
Cade, David E.
Venue
Animal Biotelemetry
Published
2021-08-26
Volume
9
Issue
1
ISSN
2050-3385 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3195109539
Cited by
78
References
85
Citations by year
2026: 20 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 1
FWCI
6.21
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Animal Biotelemetry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • University of Southern Denmark Research Portal (University of Southern Denmark) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • world wildlife fund
  • National Science Foundation (IOS-1656691, OPP-1643877)
  • Office of Naval Research (YIP #N000141612477)
  • Stanford University (Terman Fellowship, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Fellowship)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Marine animal studies overview
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Ocean Engineering › Underwater Vehicles and Communication Systems
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Inertial Sensor and Navigation
Keywords
inertial measurement unit, accelerometer, magnetometer, gyroscope, pressure sensors, GPS, cetaceans, marine animal behavior, data processing software, MATLAB software

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