Abstract

Studies of satellite telemetry of sea turtles are relevant to know their biology, so the performance of transmitters for location of individuals is transcendental. The objective of this work was to evaluate the transmission behavior and the location accuracy of satellite transmitters with the ARGOS System. Two Telonics satellite transmitters, model TAM4510-3 were used under controlled conditions and with different configurations: one by stages (CSteps), taking as reference periods of time of the movement stages of the sea turtles, and the other with programming of 24 H on (COpen) for the entire sampling time (12 d). They were placed in open skies and separated 1 m from each other, and the geographical coordinate was obtained with a GPS navigator (EGNOS) from an intermediate point between them for location reference. More than 55% of the signals were of the quality level (NC) 3, the maximum for ARGOS, followed by type 2 and B for both configu-rations (CSteps, n = 168, COpen, n = 222). Of type 0 were the least. It was observed that NCs with greater location accuracy were type 3, followed by type B and 2 with similar results. For both configurations the largest number of received messages was registered in slot 3 (06:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. local time); While the smallest number was recorded in slot 1 (06:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.) for COpen and in slot 4 (12:00 p.m. to 06 p.m.) for CSteps. This information contributes with criteria elements for the spatial analysis of data derived from the ARGOS System, providing a reference of the potential errors that can be expected from the location of individuals tracked with these transmitter models, as well as the periods of better communication with the Satellites

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