FRIENDS
OF LATODAMI ENVIRONMENTAL
|
|
|
Satellite Tracking - Barn Owls
Each of
Latodami’s four Barn Owls (provide to us on 9/2005) was equipped with a
satellite transmitter and antenna by means of a crisscross design
Teflon ribbon harness. This allowed the owls to be tracked by a satellite
that orbits the earth. The transmitters were programmed to transmit for 6
hours on/48 hours off. This conserved battery power and increased the life of
the transmitter. The satellite retrieved, interpreted and classified the
signals and relayed this data to a central server which, in turn, sent this
data in email to the Moraine Preservation Fund and to the Latodami web site. The satellite data included the Barn
owl’s ID number, date and time of location, position location (long. lat),
location class (accuracy of location), pass duration (time elapsed from the
first signal heard by the satellite to the last signal heard) and number of
messages received. The Friends of
Latodami developed custom software to translate this data into a standard XML
format. We also developed software to visualize this data through the Google Maps API, allowing it to be overlaid on a street
map, on Satellite imagery of the area, or on a hybrid of both. We are
currently working on software to track the owl’s movement over time. The use of
satellite tracking and the data it yielded will allow us to develop a more
complete picture of the Barn Owls movements, habitat selection and life
expectancy. The transmitters were activated on We offer a view of the most recently
tracked locations of the Latodami Owls. Each owl is labeled with a
separate letter. Multiple locations for each owl may or may not be shown,
depending on how many readings were received for that owl. Clicking on a
marker will bring up the time and date of the sighting, which are shown in
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) which is several hours ahead of local time. |
|
|
|
Friends of
It is not officially affiliated with Allegheny County