USGS Alaska Science Center Wildlife Tracking Data Collection
Science Center Objects
Understanding the short- and long-distance movements of wildlife is critical for a wide variety of ecological research questions and management decisions. Since the mid-1980s, the USGS Alaska Science Center has used information from telemetry devices on wildlife species to determine locations of animals throughout their annual cycles, understand patterns of habitat use, quantify time spent on certain behaviors, and identify geographic areas repeatedly used by wildlife that may indicate sites of importance to species and populations.
Return to Wildlife, Fish, and Habitats
Available here are links to the tracking data of various wildlife species studied at the USGS Alaska Science Center.
Animation illustrates movements of all Tundra Swans that were tracked using Argos Wildlife Tracking.
(Credit: David Douglas, USGS. Public domain.)
Species
- Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)
- Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)
- Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors)
- Yellow-billed Loon (Gavia adamsii)
- Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus)
- Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata)
- Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica)
- Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata)
- Black Scoter (Melanitta americana)
About the Collection
U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, 2019, USGS Alaska Science Center wildlife tracking data collection (ver 1.0, July 2019): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9VYSWEH
Version History:
First release: July 2019
Supplemental Reference Information
Argos User Manuals
- Argos Users Manual, online
- Argos Users Manual, 1988
- Argos Users Manual, 2008
- Argos Users Manual, 2011
- Argos Users Manual, 2016
Microwave Telemetry, Inc., PTT Manuals
- MTI Field Manual_PTT-100_Battery
- MTI Field Manual_PTT-100_Solar
- MTI Field Manual_PTT-100_5g Solar
- MTI Field Manual_PTT-100_GPS Solar
Supplemental Information About the Argos System
- Argos Web Site
- USFWS Report 1988_Satellite Tracking Assessment
- USFWS Report 1990_Satellite Tracking Applications
*Disclaimer: The manuals are strictly provided for informational purposes for the data provided. They are not an endorsement of the product.
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Date published: February 20, 2020Status: ActiveTracking Data for Pacific Loons (Gavia pacifica)
Available here are tracking data of Pacific Loons, a species that breeds throughout much of Alaska and winters throughout the Pacific Ocean basin, along the costs of East Asia and the U.S. These data were collected to better understand timing of spring arrival, fall departure, and habitat use patterns on the North Slope of Alaska.
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: January 22, 2020Status: ActiveTracking Data for Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus)
Available here are tracking data of Tundra Swans, a species that nests in coastal areas throughout Alaska and winters across a broad area of North America from the Pacific to Atlantic coasts. These data were collected to better understand the timing and patterns of migratory movements and seasonal use of habitats in breeding, wintering, and migratory areas of North America.
Contacts: John M Pearce, Ph.D., David DouglasAttribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: December 3, 2019Status: ActiveTracking Data for Yellow-billed Loons (Gavia adamsii)
Available here are tracking data of Yellow-billed loons, a species that breeds in coastal areas of western and northern Alaska and adjacent regions of Russia and Canada. This species winters along the Pacific coasts of North America and Eurasia. These data were collected to better understand the patterns of migratory movements and seasonal use of different regions of Alaska
Attribution: Region 11: Alaska, Alaska Science Center -
Date published: September 9, 2019Status: ActiveTracking Data for Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors)
Available here are tracking data of Blue-winged Teal, a duck species that breeds throughout much of North America and whose wintering range includes neotropical areas of the Caribbean and Central and South America, thus providing a migratory link between the continents of North and South America. These data were collected to better understand the timing and patterns of migratory movement of...
Attribution: Region 11: Alaska, Alaska Science Center -
Date published: September 5, 2019Status: ActiveTracking Data for Northern Pintails (Anas acuta)
Available here are tracking data of Northern Pintails, a duck species that, in Alaska, nests throughout the state and in adjacent regions of Russia and Canada. These data were collected to better understand the timing and patterns of migratory movements of Northern Pintails from wintering grounds in Japan as part of a project on the possible spread of Eurasian forms of avian influenza to North...
Contacts: John M Pearce, Ph.D., David DouglasAttribution: Region 11: Alaska, Alaska Science Center -
Date published: September 5, 2019Status: ActiveTracking Data for Red-throated Loons (Gavia stellata)
Available here are tracking data of Red-throated Loons, a species that breeds in coastal areas throughout Alaska and winters along the Pacific coasts of North America and Eurasia. These data were collected to better understand the patterns of migratory movements and seasonal use of different regions of Alaska.
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: July 22, 2019Status: ActiveTracking Data for Marbled Godwits (Limosa fedoa)
Available here are tracking data of Marbled Godwits, a large-bodied shorebird that, in Alaska, nests in the southwestern portion of the state. These data were collected to better understand the timing and patterns of migratory movements and seasonal use of different coastal areas in the Pacific region.
Attribution: Region 11: Alaska, Alaska Science Center
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Date published: July 31, 2019USGS Alaska Science Center Wildlife Tracking Data Collection
Understanding the short- and long-distance movements of wildlife is critical for a wide variety of ecological research studies and management decisions. Since the mid-1980s, the USGS Alaska Science Center has collected data from wildlife tracking devices to: determine locations of animals throughout their annual cycles, understand patterns of habitat use, quantify time spent on various be
Attribution: Alaska Science Center
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Date published: March 17, 2020Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Surf Scoters (Melanitta perspicillata) - Processed Data
This metadata document describes the data contained in the "processedData" folder of this data package. This data package contains all data collected by the Argos System from 25 satellite transmitters attached to Surf Scoters on their winter ranges in southeast Alaska and Baja California, Mexico, 2005-2008. The raw data were processed to accomplish two goals: flag implausible location e
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: February 20, 2020
Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Pacific Loons (Gavia pacifica) - Processed Data
This metadata document describes the data contained in the "processedData" folder of this data package. This data package contains data collected by the Argos System from 12 satellite transmitters attached to Pacific Loons on their breeding range in arctic, 2015-2016. The raw data were processed to accomplish two goals: flag implausible location estimates and decode raw sensor data. Two C
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: February 18, 2020
Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Red-throated Loons (Gavia stellata) - Processed Data
This metadata document describes the data contained in the "processedData" folder of this data package. This data package contains all data collected by the Argos System from 92 satellite transmitters attached to Red-throated Loons on their breeding range in coastal areas throughout Alaska, 2000-2010. The raw data were processed to accomplish two goals: flag implausible location estimates
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: February 18, 2020
Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Red-throated Loons (Gavia stellata) - Raw Data
This metadata document describes the data contained in the "rawData" folder of this data package. This data package contains all data collected by the Argos System from 92 satellite transmitters attached to Red-throated Loons on their breeding range in coastal areas throughout Alaska, 2000-2010. Five data files are included in the"rawData" folder of this data package. Two data files (
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: January 22, 2020Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus) - Processed Data
This metadata document describes the data contained in the "processedData" folder of this data package. This data package contains all data collected by the Argos System from 50 satellite transmitters attached to Tundra Swans on their breeding range in arctic and western Alaska, 2008. The raw data were processed to accomplish two goals: flag implausible location estimates and decode raw s
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: January 22, 2020
Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus) - Raw Data
This metadata document describes the data contained in the "rawData" folder of this data package. This data package contains all data collected by the Argos System from 50 satellite transmitters attached to Tundra Swans on their breeding range in arctic and western Alaska, 2008. Five data files are included in the "rawData" folder of this data package. Two data files (with identical c
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: December 2, 2019Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Yellow-billed Loons (Gavia adamsii) - Processed Data
This metadata document describes the data contained in the "processedData" folder of this data package. This data package contains all data collected by the Argos System from 92 satellite transmitters attached to adult Yellow-billed Loons on their breeding range in Arctic Alaska and Canada, 2002-2017. The raw data were processed to accomplish two goals: flag implausible location estimates
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: December 2, 2019
Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Yellow-billed Loons (Gavia adamsii) - Raw Data
This metadata document describes the data contained in the "rawData" folder of this data package. This data package contains all data collected by the Argos System from 92 satellite transmitters attached to adult Yellow-billed Loons on their breeding range in Arctic Alaska and Canada, 2002-2017. Five data files are included in the "rawData" folder of this data package. Two data files %2
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: September 18, 2019Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) - Processed Data
This metadata document describes the data contained in the "processedData" folder of this data package. This data package contains all data collected by the Argos System from 42 satellite transmitters attached to Blue-winged Teal ducks on their breeding range in Saskatchewan and Alberta (August 2013) and spring staging areas in Texas and Louisiana (March 2015). The raw data were proce
Attribution: Alaska Science Center -
Date published: September 18, 2019
Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) - Raw Data
This metadata document describes the data contained in the "rawData" folder of this data package. This data package contains all data collected by the Argos System from 42 satellite transmitters attached to Blue-winged Teal ducks on their breeding range in Saskatchewan and Alberta (August 2013) and spring staging areas in Texas and Louisiana (March 2015). Five data files are included
Attribution: Alaska Science Center