Interpolation of animal tracking data in a fluid environment

• Main Authors: Yann Tremblay, Scott A. Shaffer, Shannon L. Fowler, Carey E. Kuhn, Birgitte I. Mcdonald, Michael J. Weise, Charle-andré Bost, Henri Weimerskirch, Daniel E. Crocker
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Elephant Seals
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.117.7846; http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/209/1/128.pdf

Interpolation of geolocation or Argos tracking data is a necessity for habitat use analyses of marine vertebrates. In a fluid marine environment, characterized by curvilinear structures, linearly interpolated track data are not realistic. Based on these two facts, we interpolated tracking data from albatrosses, penguins, boobies, sea lions, fur seals and elephant seals using six mathematical algorithms. Given their popularity in mathematical computing, we chose Bézier, hermite and cubic splines, in addition to a commonly used linear algorithm to interpolate data. Performance of interpolation methods was compared with different temporal resolutions representative of the less-precise geolocation and the more-precise Argos tracking techniques. Parameters from interpolated sub-sampled tracks were compared with those obtained from intact tracks. Average accuracy of the interpolated location was not affected by the interpolation method and was always within the precision of the tracking technique used. However, depending on the species tested, some curvilinear interpolation algorithms