Working with local tag data

Datasets will often reside on your local hard drive, either

• managed by Firetail (using File > Download Movebank 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.

Note: If you fail to open your tag vendor with Firetail, do not hesitate and contact our support support@firetail.de

When selecting datasets you may also select multiple files at once (shift select). These datasets will be opened in one viewport.

Overview of supported data

Supported Vendors

• AWT
• Argos
• Milsar
• Movebank
• OpenCollar
• Ornitela
• TechnoSmart
• Telonics
• Vectronic
• e-obs (Premium Partner)

Don’t hesitate to contact us when data fails to open: Services

Other Vendors

Many datasets will open out-of-the-box for other vendors. Let us know, when the vendor of your choice fails to open. We’re glad integrate su

File Types

File Converter for Vectronic Motion Data Monitor

Firetail 12 introduces a file conversion utility that can convert Vectronic Motion Data Monitor (MDM) folders to a burst-like format suitable for Firetail and Movebank upload. Vectronic tags record continuous samples that are (typically) not grouped as bursts. For annotation and for a more efficient handling of large-scale data Firetail handles acceleration data as bursts.

Conversion steps:

Windows/Motion Data Monitor

1. Start MDM and open a binv2 data-file
2. Select a range of interest and export it as csv (comma-separated values)
3. This will create a folder with month/day-wise csv files

Convert the folder to a burst-file

1. Open Firetail and use File > File Converters > ACC: Bursts from Vectronic MDM
2. Select the created folder Choose Folder
3. Select an output file Select File. Make sure to use the suffix -acc.csv (tag321-acc.csv). Firetail can auto-detect the associated gps and acceleration data, e.g. tag321-gps.csv and tag321-acc.csv
4. Provide a tag identifier
5. Provide an individual identifier
6. Select how many samples should be grouped as one burst (see also burst detection)
7. Select a minimum threshold for the burst frequency
8. Press OK

The conversion tool will filter overlapping data associated to timestamps that have been encountered earlier in file. Additionally, bursts that violate the provided requirements will be discarded.

When the conversion is done, close the dialog via ‘X’ or ‘Cancel’ and open the csv (along with any other data) from using File > Open CSV.

Services

We provide data conversion services to adapt your tag data to Movebank/Firetail requirements. Firetail is subject of constant development, adding support for your tags may well be within scope for the next version!

Contact us! Full license holders will get detailed expert support to help you get most out of your data. Let us know in case your data does not work as expected

Burst type data vs. continuous recording

Burst data can be counterintuitive. We would like to clarify how burst recording works and how this affects the datasets you are working with.

Many high-res tags record sensor data at a fixed frequency starting at a given timestamp. We refer to this kind of data as burst-type format. In this regard a burst is a ordered set of samples captured for a given amount of time:

This example data has a fixed resolution, here 40Hz. This frequency is usually much higher than the GPS frequency (1Hz and below). By contrast, continuous formats commonly use a single line of data for each recorded value, which can result in data redundancy, in particular for Movebank downloads at the time of writing this documentation.

Few devices continuously record high-res data. When provided as accessory data, Firetail will convert this data to bursts, e.g. to enable acceleration annotation on the burst level.

Burst-type formats capture each burst as a single entry (line) in a csv. A header definition is required with at least the following fields to define each burst:

• start-timestamp: burst starts here
• acceleration-axes: one/two/three distinct characters (X, Y, Z) stating the the order of axes in the burst, usually X, XY or XYZ
• acceleration-frequency-per-axis: frequency in Hz
• accelerations-raw: consecutive singletons, 1-tuples, 2-tuples or triplets (depending on the type of acceleration axes)

The spacing of samples is uniquely given by the start timestamp and the axis frequency. To improve the overview when working with bursts, Firetail shows bursts consecutively without time gaps. The cursor will wait between non-consecutive bursts during replay.

Automated Burst Detection

Motivation: Firetail can efficiently handle acceleration burst data. FireSOM and manual annotation procedures benefit from a burst level perspective.

Therefore, Firetail features automated burst detection and conversion for continuously recorded events like Ornitela or Vectronic. In File > Settings > Import two parameters control the length of detected bursts:

1. Minimum number of samples for detected bursts: filter all bursts that are shorter than the given amount of samples after detection (default 2).
2. Maximim number of samples for detected bursts: split bursts that exceed the number of bursts after detection (default 80).

The default settings depend on the source frequency, but may make sense for a wide range of data:

• 1Hz data is split into chunks of 1 min 20 sec, singleton samples are filtered
• 8Hz data is split into chunks of 10 sec, singleton samples are filtered
• 40Hz data is split into chunks of 2 sec, singleton samples are filtered

Caveat: extreme settings may filter all bursts

These settings affect the import procedure, open data must be re-opened.

E-OBS Datasets

Tags by e-obs offer state-of-the-art solutions to animal tracking. Data gathered from these tags can be imported directly into Firetail using File > Open CSV Files.

E-obs and related modern tags feature a wide range of sensor data (see Event data) that Firetail can show fully synchronized.

Given data from an IMU (inertial measurement unit) is present, Firetail offers a visualization option to show the spatial orientation of the e-obs tracking device.

See also Acceleration Data.

Technosmart Datasets

Some of the most widespread Technosmart tags are supported in terms of acceleration and GPS and event data:

• Axy-Trek
• Axy-5

Ornitela Datasets

Firetail can handle Ornitela location data, acceleration data and events. Currently, the Onitela ‘SENSORS’ are not supported by Movebank (work in progress), yet Ornitela data can be loaded locally. Automated burst detection will apply.

Ornitela users can actively monitor their Movebank data feeds from within Firetail and benefit from retrieving the latest data as an iterative update.

Vectronic acceleration data

Vectronic binv2 is a closed standard and not directly supported in Firetail. A possible workflow to access Vectronic acceleration data from Movebank is to:

1. Use the Vectronic Motion Data Monitor (MDM) to export csv data
2. Use Movebank to create a custom upload of an accessory file using acceleration_x/y/z columns
   • block-wise correction artifacts in raw MDM data may require filtering duplicates
   • exported timestamps may vary with you LOCALE/language settings
3. Upload the data along with existing GPS in your project
4. Download the data from Firetail using Download Movebank by deployment/individual/tag

Please notify us, if this workflow does not produce expected results.

Loading Movebank CSV data

Movebank data can be imported directly via our API interface. Loading local CSVs is possible via File > Open Movebank CSV File.

See also: Movebank data

Previous downloads

Data that has been downloaded previously via the Movebank data can be accessed directly.

1. Open File > Open Downloaded Data.
2. Choose a dataset, hit OK

Note that to update your datasets, please use the Download Movebank by options. Previous datasets will use local data only