/ Recent content on Firetail Manual Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us /docs/faq/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/faq/ Frequently Asked Questions I really like Firetail, how can I help the project? That’s awesome! Spread the word! We are passionate about the Firetail project and want to provide you with reliable software that is thoroughly tested, designed and maintained! Firetail is highly specialized software, and we rely on your ideas and shape Firetail’s development along your requirements. Still, we need a robust user base, therefore, if you wish to help the development of Firetail please support us by purchasing a full license, join the group of Fellowship Sponsors to help us provide licenses to early-carrer professionals, or simply include funding for Firetail or Firetail Services (kickstart analysis, project consulting) in your next funding application. /docs/getting-started/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/getting-started/ Getting started Welcome to Firetail Firetail provides you with a fully featured environment for the visualisation, reporting and annotation of modern, large-scale GPS, acceleration and tracking data. Firetail is meant to work completely interactive and connects to Movebank directly. Event data, Acc bursts and Reference data can be explored. This manual covers should cover all current Firetail features. If something is missing, please let us know. Overview of Firetail In the screenshot above we highlighted the most essential elements of firetail: /docs/sample-projects/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/sample-projects/ Sample projects Firetail provides several sample projects that are featured in the Movebank project. These projects will be shown right after the first start of Firetail. Loading a sample project The datasets shown are associated to studies available for free from the Movebank homepage. We provide the abstract, author list, links to the publication homepage, links to the original data source, and some basic information on each study on roll-over. /docs/installation/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/installation/ Installation Guide Firetail is available for Mac, Linux and Windows. Download your copy from here. If you are unsure which version to choose, start with the Free Edition and order a trial license when you hit any hard limits of this edition. For productive use in research consider to include a full license of Firetail in your next grant application. This will include expert support and on-demand features for large-scale projects. /docs/acceleration-annotation/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/acceleration-annotation/ Annotation of multi-axis sensor and acceleration data Modern collars and tags record a variety of high resolution sensor data. Annotating the data in terms of ethograms or behavioral categories has a wide range of applications in movement ecology and conservation. Firetail features a powerful annotation module that enables manual and automated (see FireSOM) data annotation for multiple sources of data: (1) acceleration data (2) activity data (3) gyroscopic data As of Firetail 12, it is possible to annotate tags, individual and deployments from Movebank as well as locally available data. /docs/annotation-evaluation/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/annotation-evaluation/ window.MathJax = { tex: { inlineMath: [['$', '$'], ['\\(', '\\)']] } }; Firetail’s annotation evaluation module Assessment of annotations against gold standards For an in-depth understanding of wildlife behavior the translation of raw tag (acceleration) data to time-resolved categorial data is extremely helpful. We refer to this process as the annotation of burst data. In general, the quality of these annotations - regardless of their origin – cannot be assessed by intrinsic measures. /docs/annotation-external/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/annotation-external/ Working with external annotation The Firetail annotation exchange format Firetail provides a conceptually simple exchange file format to visualize 3rd party annotations or external resources in general. It’s documented here: The Firetail annotation exchange format BORIS video annotation data Firetail 10 provides import filters for event data recorded with the BORIS video annotation tool. Tabular csv data exported using the event export (BORIS v7 and v8) can be imported directly. /docs/acceleration-prediction/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/acceleration-prediction/ FireSOM - prediction of behavior from acceleration data Machine-learning assisted acceleration segmentation When working with acceleration data manual annotation of large-scale data may be time-consuming or near-impossible. Via Data > Acceleration > FireSOM Segmentation you can trigger Firetail’s automated segmentation algorithm FireSOM. IMPORTANT: Firetail’s annotation features are activated when loading data via Download Movebank by ID/Tag/Deployment. Your annotation is saved locally (on your machine) along with the downloaded data. /docs/time-control/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/time-control/ Time control The time control panel is an integral part of Firetail. It enables quick navigation of datasets. Basic control overview The measurement common to all Firetail data is the timestamp. All sensor measurements are associated to a specific timestamp for a given tag, individual or deployment. The data shown is centered around a user-defined current timestamp that implies the location and sensor measurements shown on the map. On the map, Firetail highlights the coordinates associated to this timestamp for all selected individuals/tags. /docs/cloudscene-data/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/cloudscene-data/ Cloud Scenes State-of-the art hardware like e-obs 1Hz sensors easily produce millions of GPS fixes in the context of large-scale studies. Cloud scenes are the Firetail’s approach to enable interactive exploration of huge datasets. Firetail’s cloudscenes are indexed flavours of your data. Currently, we offer cloud scene processing and access as a service for large-scale studies on demand. Contact us for details: Firetail Support Opening a Cloud Scene A local cloudscene can be opened by using File > Firetail Cloud > Open Firetail Cloud Scene. /docs/movebank-data/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/movebank-data/ Loading Movebank projects Movebank data by … To access data from Movebank you must register for a movebank account. Then, within Firetail use one of File > Download Movebank Data > by Tag ID File > Download Movebank Data > by Individual ID File > Download Movebank Data > by Deployment ID to create a local project snapshot in $USER\movebank_data and enable the annotation feature A window will prompt you to enter your Movebank credentials. /docs/open-files/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/open-files/ Open Files panel The Open Files panel is a tree-like overview of all tags/individuals or deployments in an open dataset. Selecting Individuals To show which individuals/tags are shown in the map Firetail provides the Open File panel. It can be used to select subsets of the data or the complete dataset (default). Click on the checkbox next to each individual to de-/select the associated data. The triangle symbol will show you the number of GPS and acceleration samples available. /docs/quickstats/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/quickstats/ QuickFacts - a fast overview of recent events Overview Firetail can show a quick overview of statistics for each individual, summarizing previous events ending with the current timestamp. QuickFacts are provided for all currently selected individuals in the Open Files panel. Starting QuickFacts Use Report > Show QuickFacts to show the interactive statistics window. Context and step length The user can define an analysis interval, along with a step length. For example, when an interval length of 48 hours is chosen, the interval starts 48 hours before the current timestamp and will end at the current timestamp. /docs/reference-data/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/reference-data/ Working with Reference Data Loading Reference Data Movebank and other projects provide reference-data files that allow for annotations on the level of groupings (individuals, tags, deployments). When reference data is detected alongside with your dataset (in the same folder), this will open as well. Naming conventions For movebank data the reference annotation is expected to have the same prefix as your dataset and a -reference-data.csv suffix. For example your files could look like this /docs/tag-vendors/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/tag-vendors/ Working with local tag data Datasets will often reside on your local hard drive, either managed by Firetail (using File > Download Movebank Data > by...) as in-field read-out from your tags downloaded from Movebank Firetail supports a range of file formats directly and can adapt to a wide range of data received from Movebank. All datatypes (see below) are accessible via the File > Open CSV... menu. /docs/video-media-sync/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/video-media-sync/ Media overlays with VideoSync Firetail allows you to import video and media data for replay in the context of tag sensor and GPS data using the VideoSync module. Start the module via Data > Sync Video Data. Video footage (and images) from camera traps or ground truth video can be synchronized with the main timeline to replay and understand location or acceleration data using visual evidence. This can be a powerful way to annotate sections in the data and to evaluate predicted behavioral annotations. /docs/layers/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/layers/ Visible Layers Firetail provides a range of maps and data overlays. Use the menu Layer to access them. By default, an Open Street Map view is activated. It provides a great overview of your data, in particular for relatively urban areas. GPS layer This layer contains the GPS tracks for the currently selected tag data. Open Street Map (OSM) By default, Firetail operates using Open Street Map cartographic material hosted on a dedicated server. /docs/map-window/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/map-window/ Map window Visible Information The map gives you an overview over all available and currently selected data sets. Double clicking any visible trajectory will show you the GPS coordinates of all activated (checkboxed) tags having the same timestamp. Most map features are covered in the respective sections of this manual. The map viewport is directly influenced by: time controls bursts events tag selections layers and map selection For acceleration data, it is possible to select consecutive timestamp clusters within the map via shift-<left mouse button>. /docs/reporting/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/reporting/ Reporting Introduction Firetail provides a reporting module, available from Report > Create Reports. It is designed to help you to rapidly accumulate important facts about recent events for one or multiple animals. Start by selecting individuals from the Open Files panel. For selected individuals (checked in the Open Files panel), the reporting module computes basic statistics box plot: speed distributions number of GPS locations distance traveled total hours min/max/average/median speed min/max/median time delta among GPS locations distribution: sampling distances (GPS locations) orientation plot: 360 degree heading distribution scatterplots of pairwise event data (sensors) track view activity plot across individuals/tags/deployments: matrix of all-pairs, closest encounters Magnetic field calibration results FireSOM predictions using previously defined models Basic Statistics In the reporting dialog, check the basic statistics checkbox to obtain the following statistics per individual: /docs/acceleration-window/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/acceleration-window/ Acceleration Panel The acceleration panel provides an overview of burst level data with options to zoom into your dataset quickly jump to specific timestamps select regions of interest (shift left-drag) Bursts Modern tags capture acceleration data along with location data. As opposed to GPS data, acceleration data is often captured as bursts (see burst vs. continuous). A burst is a consecutive array of measurements starting at a specific timestamp. /docs/data/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/data/ Data Processing Firetail features a several data processing and data visualisation tools. You can access these features via the Data menu. Overview (see below for details) Menu Item Category Description Default Color Color Track by Use the default color for the trajectory. Point Index Color Track by Highlight timestamps by an equidistant index. Time intervals are neglected. Timestamp Color Track by Highlight timestamps with respect to the time intervals among them. /docs/event-window/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/event-window/ Event data window Many tags provide additional sensor data recorded as event data. Firetail support a wide range of sensors data shown in the event data viewport. Inspecting event data If events are available in your dataset you can visually inspect the events by selecting Event Data in the Window Selection Tabs (vertical left). Alternatively, you may use the menu entry Windows > Event Data to select how to see the event data (top, right, or as floating window). /docs/data-imu/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/data-imu/ IMU magnetic field data The orientation of tags in 3D space is a non-trivial problem that cannot usually be resolved via acceleration sensors alone. Tags by e-obs and other manufacturers therefore integrate data gyroscope and compass data for state-of-the-art estimates of tag orientation termed IMU (intertial measuement unit). This type of data can be imported into Firetail via File > Open Local Tag Data and CSVs or via the Movebank Data interface. /docs/data-kde/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/data-kde/ Kernel Density Estimation Spatial Analysis The visualization of GPS fixes as individual tracks is a powerful tool in movement ecology and conservation. Yet, when it comes to many individuals and long observation periods there are limitations. The detection of accumulations and frequently used regions can be deceiving when inferred from individual tracks. As patterns are scattered over time approaches are required that enable a viewpoint which integrates over both time intervals and spatial preferences. /docs/changelog/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/changelog/ Firetail Changelog Firetail v15.0.0, 2026-07-24 Reporting: result window is now dockable Bookmarks are now dockable Menu: Activity plot is now an element of data e-obs: tag & logger.bin management FireREACH: new algorithm for utility distributions based on likelihood of bypasses FireREACH: background computation New widget layout for GUI - improved placement and flexibility New window management: reset and store layout Reporting: column-sort for track-track distances Reporting: labeled rows/columns for track-track distances FFT-based KDE implementation KDE GUI revision KDE: rasterization is now a utility module IMU preview: scalable HUD Mitigate crash for ultra-wide screens Sample Projects: updated links and added LinkedIn Sample Projects: improve scaling for large screens Ornitela: initial GPSS/GPSF support MSIX installer; Trusted Signing Backend: New build server Firetail v14. /docs/eobs-logger/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/eobs-logger/ Managing e-obs logger data e-obs handheld devices provide logger.bin files that can contains multiple file types: movement (GPS) acceleration (ACC) magnetometer (MAG) inert measurment unit (IMU) heart rate (ECG) and possibly other data types. Firetail’s e-obs module allows you to manage these data locally. Settings Archive path Select File > Settings > e-obs Data Management and select an empty folder to be used as e-obs archive path. Imported data will be managed in this folder. /docs/keyboard-shortcuts/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/keyboard-shortcuts/ Keyboard shortcuts Function Shortcut Context 1m before Ctrl + Arrow Left Time Control 1m later Ctrl + Arrow Right Time Control later (data dependent) Arrow Right Time Control earlier (data dependent) Arrow Left Time Control fix opening time bracket Ctrl + E Time Control fix closing time bracket Ctrl + R Time Control reset time bracket Ctrl + T Time Control recording: start/stop r Record viewport open bookmarks/set bookmark Ctrl + b Bookmarks zoom in mouse scroll up Map, Acceleration View, Event View zoom out mouse scroll down Map, Acceleration View, Event View select region Shift + Left Mouse Map, Acceleration View set threshold Ctrl + Mouse Drag Map, Acceleration View toggle tag label l Map toggle tag coordinates c Map toggle data points F1 Map, Cloud Scenes toggle heatmap F2 Map, Cloud Scenes fullscreen mode F11 Main Window /docs/licensing/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 /docs/licensing/ Firetail Editions Free Edition Without a registered license you are running Firetail - Free Edition. The number of supported GPS and Acceleration samples will be limited in contrast to a licensed version. Several aspects are limited, e.g. the number of screenshots and the length of exported video snippets. Also, some features won’t be available (see www.firetail.de for a recent overview). Sample projects are excluded from this limitation! Edition GPS limit ACC Samples limit Support Free 100,000 1,000,000 limited Trial 25,000,000 100,000,000 extended Full unlimited* unlimited* full *) license limit: system configuration (RAM, processor, HDD) may impose practical limits