IMOS - Animal Tracking Facility - Best Practice Manual for SMRU CTD Satellite Relay Data Loggers
Updated: 2026-10-07
This document is the IMOS Animal Tracking Facility’s Best Practice manual for near real-time and delayed-mode processing of physical and behavioural observations collected using Sea Mammal Research Unit CTD Satellite Relay Data loggers (SMRU CTD-SRDL). The Animal Tracking Facility deploys SMRU CTD-SRDL’s on southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) and Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in the Southern Ocean and on olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) and flatback sea turtles (Natator depressus) in the Timor and Arafura Seas. The data transmitted by these instrumented animals contributes to the study of ocean structure and dynamics by supplying temperature and salinity observations within the upper ocean in high latitude, shallow coastal and tropical regions that are historically under-sampled by traditional observing platforms. This document describes the calibration methods used by the Animal Tracking Facility prior to instrument deployment and the quality analyses/quality control (QA/QC) methods for both near real-time and delayed-mode data.
Data
- Animal Tracking page on IMOS website
- Best Practice Manual for SMRU CTD Satellite Relay Data Loggers - Version 1.0
- Full metadata link
- https://licensebuttons.net/l/by/4.0/88x31.png
- http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
- {"title":"IMOS - Animal Tracking Facility Satellite Relay Tagging Program","recordAbstract":"The Animal Tracking Facility (formerly known as the Australian Animal Tracking And Monitoring System (AATAMS)) is a coordinated marine animal tagging project. \n\nSatellite Relay Data Loggers (SRDL) (most with CTDs, and some also with fluorometers) are used to explore how marine mammal behaviour relates to their oceanic environment. Loggers developed at the University of St Andrews Sea Mammal Research Unit transmit data in near real time via the Argo satellite system.\n\nThe Satellite Relay Data Loggers are deployed on marine mammals, including Elephant Seals, Weddell Seals, Australian Fur Seals, Australian Sea Lions, New Zealand Fur Seals. Data parameters measured by the instruments include time, conductivity (salinity), temperature, speed, fluorescence (available in the future) and depth.\n\nData is being collected in the Southern Ocean, the Great Australian Bight, and off the South-East Coast of Australia."}
- {"title":"IMOS - Animal Tracking Facility - Satellite Relay Tagging Program - Near real-time CTD profile data","recordAbstract":"The Animal Tracking Facility (formerly known as the Australian Animal Tracking And Monitoring System (AATAMS)) is a coordinated marine animal tagging project. Satellite Relay Data Loggers (SRDL) (most with CTDs, and some also with fluorometers) are used to explore how marine mammal behaviour relates to their oceanic environment. Loggers developed at the University of St Andrews Sea Mammal Research Unit transmit data in near real-time via the Argo satellite system. The Satellite Relay Data Loggers are deployed on marine mammals, including Elephant Seals, Weddell Seals, Australian Fur Seals, Australian Sea Lions, New Zealand Fur Seals. Data is being collected in the Southern Ocean, the Great Australian Bight, and off the South-East Coast of Australia. Data parameters measured by the instruments include time, conductivity (salinity), temperature, and depth. The data represented by this record are presented in near real-time.\n\nAs of the 19/11/2019, this data collection has been decommissioned. Historical files are still available on the IMOS THREDDS catalog. \n\nAll subsequent CTD data is available via the current “IMOS - AATAMS Facility - Satellite Relay Tagging Program - Delayed mode data” collection (https://catalogue-imos.aodn.org.au:443/geonetwork/srv/api/records/06b09398-d3d0-47dc-a54a-a745319fbece) in csv format, as opposed to NetCDF as was previously delivered via this “Near real-time” collection."}
- {"title":"Satellite Relay Tagging Program - Southern Ocean - MEOP Quality Controlled CTD Profiles","recordAbstract":"CTD (Conductivity-Temperature_Depth)-Satellite Relay Data Loggers (CTD-SRDLs) are used to explore how marine animal behaviour relates to their oceanic environment. Loggers developed at the University of St Andrews Sea Mammal Research Unit transmit data in near real-time via the Argo satellite system. Data represented here was collected in the Southern Ocean, from elephant, fur and Weddell Seals. In 2024 data was added from flatback and olive ridley turtles, from a pilot study co-funded by the Royal Australian Navy in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Marine Science and Indigenous Ranger groups.\n\nData parameters measured by the instruments include time, conductivity (salinity), temperature, pressure and depth. The data represented by this record have been Qc'd and are the Australian subset of the MEOP-CTD database (MEOP: Marine Mammals Exploring the Oceans Pole to Pole), complemented with the most recent Southern Ocean deployment data. This Australian subset of the Southern Ocean database represents about one quarter of the entire MEOP-CTD database, which currently is about 52,000 profiles obtained from 275 CTD-SRDL tag deployments. The Australian dataset originated in 2004, and was initially collected by Mark Hindell's team based at the University of Tasmania, and in later years his data has formed part of the Animal Tracking Facility of Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS)."}
- {"title":"IMOS - Animal Tracking Facility - Satellite Relay Tagging Program - Near real-time data with quality-controlled locations","recordAbstract":"The Animal Tagging Sub-Facility of the IMOS Animal Tracking Facility (formerly known as the Australian Animal Tracking And Monitoring System (AATAMS)) is a coordinated marine animal satellite-tracking project. Satellite Relay Data Loggers (SRDL) (most with Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) sensors, and some with CTD/fluorometers) are used to explore how marine animals (e.g. mammals) interact with their oceanic environment. The primary focus of this program is to collect CTD data from marine mammals, such as southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) and Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii), in the southern Indian Ocean and along the East Antarctic coast. This is achieved through international collaborations with the French national polar program's long-term National Observatory Services: Mammals as Ocean Bio-Samplers (SNO-MEMO), the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research as part of the Ross Sea Research and Monitoring Programme, and the CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales) TOSCA programme (Phoques de Weddell bio-oceanographes de la banquise antarctique et outils satellites) in Terre Adelie. SRDL loggers developed at the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU, University of St Andrews, UK) transmit data in near real time via the Argos satellite system. This metadata record, represents several different datasets listed hereafter, which can all be accessed through a multi-WFS service. \n\nBetween January 2022 and June 2024, a pilot study co-funded by the Royal Australian Navy in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Marine Science and Indigenous Ranger groups was initiated to determine whether conductivity-temperature-depth instruments mounted on turtles could provide essential observations spatially and vertically in the seas of Northern Australia. Following on from this successful pilot program, from May 2025, IMOS-funded turtle deployments in collaboration with local Indigenous Ranger groups, have occurred across the Timor and Arafura seas. Accurate tropical storm and cyclone forecasting depends on understanding the thermal structure of the upper ocean, and sub-surface observations collected by instrumented sea turtles, have emerged as a uniquely valuable source of this data. Common observing platforms such as Argo floats and moored buoys provide important but spatially limited snapshots of ocean conditions, whereas biologging tags attached to sea turtles yield high-resolution, sub-surface temperature and salinity profiles across regions that are logistically difficult and costly to sample by conventional means. Turtles equipped with miniaturised CTD (conductivity, temperature, and depth) sensors naturally dive through the upper 200 metres of the water column, precisely the depth range that governs ocean heat content (OHC) and the mixed-layer depth most relevant to tropical cyclone intensification. \n\nThe data represented by this record are presented in near real-time. \nCTD - parameters measured by the instruments include time, depth, conductivity (salinity), temperature, speed and fluorescence (available in some deployments). \nDiving - parameters measured by the instruments include individual dive start and end time, longitude/latitude at dive end time, post-dive surface duration, dive duration, maximum dive depth, intermediate dive depths and times. \nHaulout - a haulout begins when the SRDL has been continuously dry for a specified length of time (usually 10 minutes). It ends when continuously wet for another interval (usually 40 seconds). Haulout data parameters measured by the instruments include haulout start and end dates and longitude/latitude, and haulout number. \nArgos Locations - location data parameters measured by the instruments include time, longitude, latitude, location quality, along with other diagnostic information provided by Argos (http://www.argos-system.org/). \nSummary Statistics - as well as sending records of individual events such as dives and haulouts, the SRDL also calculates summary statistics of those events over a specified time period (usually 3, 4 or 6 hours). Summary statistics computed by the instruments include the proportion of time spent diving, at the surface and hauled-out, the number of dives, and the average, standard deviation and maximum dive duration and dive depth during each summary period. These statistics are based on all the data recorded by the SRDL and thus are not prone to distortion by variations in the efficiency of transmission via Argos. \nSSM QC Locations - SSM-predicted locations and uncertainty at 6-h intervals from the location quality-control process. SSM-predicted locations are also appended to records in the CTD, Diving, Haulout, Argos Locations, and Summary Statistics datasets. See Jonsen et al. 2020 for further details on the SSM used for location quality control"}
- {"title":"IMOS - Animal Tracking Facility - Satellite Relay Tagging Program - Delayed mode data with quality-controlled locations","recordAbstract":"The Animal Tagging Sub-Facility of the IMOS Animal Tracking Facility (formerly known as the Australian Animal Tracking And Monitoring System (AATAMS)) is a coordinated marine animal satellite-tracking project. Satellite Relay Data Loggers (SRDL) (most with Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) sensors, and some with CTD/fluorometers) are used to explore how marine animals (e.g. mammals) interact with their oceanic environment. The primary focus of this program is to collect CTD data from marine mammals, such as southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) and Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii), in the southern Indian Ocean and along the East Antarctic coast. This is achieved through international collaborations with the French national polar program's long-term National Observatory Services: Mammals as Ocean Bio-Samplers (SNO-MEMO), the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research as part of the Ross Sea Research and Monitoring Programme, and the CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales) TOSCA programme (Phoques de Weddell bio-oceanographes de la banquise antarctique et outils satellites) in Terre Adelie. SRDL loggers developed at the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU, University of St Andrews, UK) transmit data in near real time via the Argos satellite system. \n\nBetween January 2022 and June 2024, a pilot study co-funded by the Royal Australian Navy in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Marine Science and Indigenous Ranger groups was initiated to determine whether conductivity-temperature-depth instruments mounted on turtles could provide essential observations spatially and vertically in the seas of Northern Australia. Following on from this successful pilot program, from May 2025, IMOS-funded turtle deployments in collaboration with local Indigenous Ranger groups, have occurred across the Timor and Arafura seas. Accurate tropical storm and cyclone forecasting depends on understanding the thermal structure of the upper ocean, and sub-surface observations collected by instrumented sea turtles, have emerged as a uniquely valuable source of this data. Common observing platforms such as Argo floats and moored buoys provide important but spatially limited snapshots of ocean conditions, whereas biologging tags attached to sea turtles yield high-resolution, sub-surface temperature and salinity profiles across regions that are logistically difficult and costly to sample by conventional means. Turtles equipped with miniaturised CTD (conductivity, temperature, and depth) sensors naturally dive through the upper 200 metres of the water column, precisely the depth range that governs ocean heat content (OHC) and the mixed-layer depth most relevant to tropical cyclone intensification. \n\nThis metadata record, represents several different datasets listed hereafter, which can all be accessed through a multi-WFS service. \nThe data represented by this record are presented in delayed mode. \nCTD - parameters measured by the instruments include time, depth, conductivity (salinity), temperature, speed and fluorescence (available in some deployments). \nDiving - parameters measured by the instruments include individual dive start and end time, longitude/latitude at dive end time, post-dive surface duration, dive duration, maximum dive depth, intermediate dive depths and times. \nHaulout - a haulout begins when the SRDL has been continuously dry for a specified length of time (usually 10 minutes). It ends when continuously wet for another interval (usually 40 seconds). Haulout data parameters measured by the instruments include haulout start and end dates and longitude/latitude, and haulout number. \nArgos Locations - location data parameters measured by the instruments include time, longitude, latitude, location quality, along with other diagnostic information provided by Argos (http://www.argos-system.org/). \nSummary Statistics - as well as sending records of individual events such as dives and haulouts, the SRDL also calculates summary statistics of those events over a specified time period (usually 3, 4 or 6 hours). Summary statistics computed by the instruments include the proportion of time spent diving, at the surface and hauled-out, the number of dives, and the average, standard deviation and maximum dive duration and dive depth during each summary period. These statistics are based on all the data recorded by the SRDL and thus are not prone to distortion by variations in the efficiency of transmission via Argos. \nSSM QC Locations - SSM-predicted locations and uncertainty at 6-h intervals from the location quality-control process. SSM-predicted locations are also appended to records in the CTD, Diving, Haulout, Argos Locations, and Summary Statistics datasets. See Jonsen et al. 2020 for further details on the SSM used for location quality control.\n\n** For data prior to October 2018, please consult IMOS - Animal Tracking Facility - Satellite Relay Tagging Program - Delayed mode data (https://catalogue-imos.aodn.org.au:443/geonetwork/srv/api/records/06b09398-d3d0-47dc-a54a-a745319fbece), to access data without improved satellite locations. In the near future all historical delayed mode data will be reprocessed with the new quality control (QC) process, to improve the accuracy of the satellite location data, and this dataset will replace the original one. **"}
- {"title":"IMOS - Animal Tracking Facility - Satellite Relay Tagging Program - Delayed mode data","recordAbstract":"The Animal Tracking Facility (formerly known as the Australian Animal Tracking And Monitoring System (AATAMS)) is a coordinated marine animal tagging project. Satellite Relay Data Loggers (SRDL) (most with CTDs, and some also with fluorometers) are used to explore how marine mammal behaviour relates to their oceanic environment. Loggers developed at the University of St Andrews Sea Mammal Research Unit transmit data in near real time via the Argo satellite system. The Satellite Relay Data Loggers are deployed on marine mammals, including Elephant Seals, Weddell Seals, Australian Fur Seals, Australian Sea Lions, New Zealand Fur Seals. Data is being collected in the Southern Ocean, the Great Australian Bight, and off the South-East Coast of Australia. \nThis metadata record, represents several different datasets listed hereafter, which can all be accessed through a multi-WFS service. The data represented by this record are presented in delayed mode. \nCTD - parameters measured by the instruments include time, conductivity (salinity), temperature, speed, fluorescence (available in the future) and depth. \nDiving - parameters measured by the instruments include start and end time and longitude/latitude of each individual dive, post-dive surface duration, dive duration, maximum dive depth, intermediate dive depths and times. \nHaulout - a haulout begins when the SRDL has been continuously dry for a specified length of time (usually 10 minutes). It ends when continuously wet for another interval (usually 40 seconds). Haulout data parameters measured by the instruments include haulout start and end dates and longitude/latitude, and haulout number. \nArgos locations - location data parameters measured by the instruments include time, longitude, latitude, location quality, along with other diagnostic information provided by Argos (http://www.argos-system.org/). \nSummary Statistics - as well as sending records of individual events such as dives and haulouts, the SRDL also calculates summary statistics of those events over a specified time period (usually 3, 4 or 6 hours). Summary statistics computed by the instruments include the proportion of time spent diving, at the surface and hauled-out, the number of dives, and the average, standard deviation and maximum dive duration and dive depth during each summary period. These statistics are based on all the data recorded by the SRDL and so are not prone to distortion by variations in the efficiency of transmission via Argos.\n\n** For data after October 2018, please consult IMOS - Animal Tracking Facility - Satellite Relay Tagging Program - Delayed mode data with quality-controlled locations (https://catalogue-imos.aodn.org.au:443/geonetwork/srv/api/records/70f148b1-7040-4fad-944a-456413c95472), to access data with improved satellite locations. In the near future all historical delayed mode data will be reprocessed with the new quality control (QC) process, to improve the accuracy of the satellite location data, and this dataset will be replaced by the new QC’d one. **"}
