Satellite telemetry

Satellite telemetry uses satellite-linked devices to estimate and transmit an animal’s location and movements. It enables tracking across regions beyond the reach of ground-based radio systems.

Argos system: A satellite-based system that receives messages from wildlife tags and estimates their locations. Argos is a long-running platform for relaying animal-tag signals and calculating positions.
Animal migration: The regular, seasonal movement of animals between distinct regions. Satellite tracks reveal routes, timing, and destinations across long migration journeys.
Geolocation: The determination of a real-world position from geographic coordinates or other location data. Satellite telemetry is one way to obtain geolocation for animals far from observers.
Radio telemetry: Wildlife tracking that locates radio transmitters using directional antennas or receiver networks. Radio telemetry often requires nearby observers, while satellite-linked tags can report across remote regions.
GPS tracking: A method of estimating position from signals transmitted by navigation satellites. Many animal tags calculate GPS fixes before transmitting them through a satellite network.
Sea turtle migration: The long-distance movements sea turtles make between feeding, breeding, and nesting areas. Satellite telemetry has mapped ocean routes that are difficult to observe directly.
Latitude and longitude: An angular coordinate system specifying positions north or south and east or west on Earth. Animal tracking records commonly express each estimated position as latitude and longitude.
Passive integrated transponder: A short-range identification tag powered by an external reader’s electromagnetic field. Unlike satellite tags, these tags provide identity only when an animal passes close to a reader.
Animal-borne transmitter: A device carried by an animal that records or transmits data such as location or activity. The transmitter is the animal-mounted hardware at the start of the tracking chain.
Bird migration: The seasonal movement of birds between breeding and nonbreeding areas. Satellite tags can trace routes and stopovers across continents and oceans.

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