The SPLASH is our data-collecting Argos satellite tag. This tag combines the sampling and detailed data storage functions of the Mk9 archival tag with the Wildlife Computers Cricket Argos transmitter. It includes sensors to measure depth, temperature, light level, and wet/dry periods (to determine surfacing). During the deployment, depth and temperature data are collected, analyzed, summarized, and compressed for transmission through the Argos satellites. Data throughput is maximized by flexible, user-programmable transmission regimes. 14 Mbytes of non-volatile memory are available for the archived data. The SPLASH tag must be recovered in order to retrieve the entire raw archived data set.

Direct U.S. prices start at $3300. Please contact us for pricing on specific configurations.

Controller features The operating code of the SPLASH can be upgraded. This means you can always have the most up-to-date version of on-board software, regardless of when the tag was purchased.

Transmitter The SPLASH incorporates the Cricket, a specialized, Argos-certified transmitter developed by Wildlife Computers. When configured with one cell, it generates 0.5W of radiated power output, and operates at a high efficiency to allow the maximum number of transmissions from the battery. The high-power, high-efficiency characteristics of this transmitter maximize both the quantity and quality of received messages.

Data collection and summarization The SPLASH has two independent, user-defined sampling regimes. One is used for collecting archival data. The other regime is used to collect the data for summarization into histograms for transmitted messages. A “histogram” is a set of accumulators (counters) called “bins.” You can program the range for each bin. Two to 14 bins can be specified for each histogram (or they can be completely disabled). Each histogram covers a user-defined period which can be from one to 24 hours. The start of the histogram periods is user-defined to allow each the capture of diurnal (e.g., morning, daytime, evening, nighttime) behavior. The SPLASH also transforms depth readings into dives. A dive begins when the animal descends from the surface, passes a user-defined minimum depth, and ends when the animal returns to the surface.

Extending deployment length The SPLASH further extends deployment length by:

Incorporating a wet/dry sensor that limits transmissions to when the tag is at the surface. The SPLASH dynamically changes the wet/dry threshold that determines “wet” from “dry” to accommodate the changes in salinity. This is important if an animal is moving in and out of estuarine areas.
Allowing duty-cycling by day or month.
Limiting total number of transmissions per day.
Limiting transmissions to hours when the satellite is likely to be in view.
Recognizing if the animal is at-sea or hauled-out, and transmitting at the appropriate rates. Typically the SPLASH tag is configured to transmit every 45 seconds when the animal is at-sea to maximize the probability that enough uncorrupted transmissions are received within a satellite pass for a location to be calculated. When the animal is hauled-out, the transmission rate is typically slowed to every 90 seconds. The SPLASH can also be configured to suspend transmissions after the animal has hauled-out for a user-defined number of hours.

User-defined parameters All parameters are user-programmable. You are able to set the parameters that control how and when the SPLASH stores and transmits its data using your PC.

Available message types for transmission You may select any or all of the below message types transmission.

Dive duration histograms. Number of dives within the specified dive duration ranges.
Maximum dive depth histograms. Number of dives whose maximum depth is within the specified depth ranges.
Time-at-depth histograms. Time spent within the specified depth ranges.
Time-at-temperature histograms. Time spent within the specified temperature range.
Percentage timelines. What percentage of the hour the tag was above a threshold depth, or dry. This message is encoded identically to the SPOT's haulout statistic except that a depth threshold can be specified.
20-minute timelines. Each 24 hour period is divided into 20-minute increments. Each increment is marked with whether it was generally deeper than a configurable depth, or was dry. This is offered for users who want data to compare with our older SDR tags.

Multiple messages are condensed into a single transmission whenever possible to increase data throughput. The transmitted message length can be configured to be generally limited to 11 bytes to conserve battery and increase the probability of uncorrupted transmissions for briefly surfacing animals. Otherwise the target transmitted message length is 31 bytes, which maximizes the amount of collected data transmitted. User-defined parameters. All parameters are user-programmable. You are able to set the parameters that control how and when the SPLASH stores and transmits its data using your PC.

Battery and deployment length Several battery configurations are available for the SPLASH tag. The deployment length one can get from a particular battery configuration is influenced by the storing of data in memory and the length of the transmitted messages. Data archiving takes a minimum amount of battery power. A single AA cell provides enough power to completely fill the archive and provide approximately 25,000 transmissions. This can be translated to sampling depth and temperature every 2 seconds and transmitting 250 transmissions per day for 100 days. A budget of 250 transmissions per day is generally sufficient to provide daily location calculation via Argos. Actual results are dependent on animal behavior and environmental temperature.

Location accuracy Service Argos provides the locations with an accuracy as good as ±350m.

Size, weight and pressure resistance Electronic components are fully cast in epoxy. Many configurations are available to suit your study requirements. Configurations include back mounts for seals, penguins and turtles and fin mounts for cetaceans and large sharks. The smallest configuration weighs less than 65g in air. Standard models withstand up to 1000m of pressure. Other configurations can be designed for depths to 2000m.

Tag activation The SPLASH can be turned on (deployed) and off (in stand-by) with a magnet. The LED flash sequence indicates whether the tag is in stand-by or suspended.

Analysis software Windows-based software is provided to decode the Argos data into an easy-to-use format. Also provided are programs to decode, display and analyze the archival data, should the SPLASH be recovered.

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