Huveneers, C., Harcourt, R., Boomer, A., Hobday, A., Pederson, H., Semens, J., Stieglitz, T., Vallee, R., Webber, D., Heupel, M., Simpfendorfer, C., and Peddemors, V. (2009) The influence of environmental parameters (meteorological and oceanographic) on the performance of acoustic receivers. In: Papers from 2nd AATAMS Workshop. From: 2nd AATAMS Workshop, 2-4 November 2009, Mosman, NSW, Australia.

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Abstract

Acoustic telemetry has been increasingly used to study the ecology and biology of many marine organisms. Within the suite of technology and equipment available, acoustic telemetry using acoustic receivers, such as VR2Ws, has rapidly become the most common method of monitoring the presence/absence of marine organisms. This has been epitomized by both national and international tracking programs opting for passive acoustic telemetry on a continental scale. However, whereas it is well-known that environmental characteristics can affect the performance and detection range of acoustic receivers, these effects have not yet been quantified. In the present study, we deployed eight receivers at different depths within the water column and at different orientations (hydrophone up or down), while 12 transmitters were deployed at known distance (ranging 200–800 m) from the receivers. Meteorological, temperature and current measurements were obtained from an oceanographic mooring and a weather station located in proximity to the deployed receivers. The receiver performance parameters (detection rate, detection efficiency, rejection coefficient, and noise quotient) between the 12 transmitters and eight receivers were monitored and analysed using the measurements obtained from the oceanographic mooring and the weather station. Receivers were deployed from December 2008 to July 2009 and detected 1,979,543 transmissions. All receiver performance parameters varied extensively during the period of deployment from 0.05–0.88, 0.01–0.36, and 1246–11402 for detection efficiency, rejection coefficient, and noise quotient, respectively. The average detection rates decreased with distance, with the detection rate of transmitters at 200 and 800 m being 88.2% and 11.6%, respectively. The depth of deployment did not strongly affect the average detection rate (60.2–68.4%). However, the orientation of the hydrophone impacted the average detection rate with hydrophone facing down decreasing the average detection rate from 60.2 to 51.9% in receivers close to the bottom. Finally, modelling of the effects of environmental parameters on receiver performance provided an extensive quantification of the impacts of environmental conditions on the detection range of acoustic receivers.

Item ID:	10955
Item Type:	Conference Item (Abstract / Summary)
Related URLs:	http://imos.org.au/aatams.html
Date Deposited:	27 May 2010 01:27
FoR Codes:	05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0502 Environmental Science and Management > 050204 Environmental Impact Assessment @ 30% 05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0502 Environmental Science and Management > 050202 Conservation and Biodiversity @ 40% 04 EARTH SCIENCES > 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience > 040699 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience not elsewhere classified @ 30%
SEO Codes:	96 ENVIRONMENT > 9605 Ecosystem Assessment and Management > 960506 Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Fresh, Ground and Surface Water Environments @ 100%
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