Standard Mk10 Architecture
The Mk10 tag is the most versatile of the Wildlife Computers family of instruments. The standard configuration of the Mk10 is an archival tag that includes 64 MBytes of memory and measures depth, temperature, and light level, and differentiates wet or dry conditions. A variety of other sensors can be added.
The Mk10 architecture forms the basis of an ever-growing range of products designed to meet a wide variety of customer needs. While we do not generally sell a simple "Mk10" tag, we combine the Mk10 with an Argos transmitter (-A option), a Fastloc receiver (-F option) and a stomach temperature receiver (-L option).
Controller features
The Mk10 has a low-power design that is optimized for long battery life. The controller contains a real-time clock, up to eight 12-bit analog-to-digital converters, 512 KBytes of low-power static RAM, support for FLASH data memory, and 128 KBytes of program FLASH memory. The operating code of the Mk10 resides in this code memory and 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.
Sensors
The Mk10 is configured with multiple sensors. One or two bytes of memory are required to store each sensor reading depending on how the data compress.
Depth. A 12-bit analog-to-digital converter is used, which provides highly-accurate measurements from −40 to +1000m, with 0.5m resolution and an accuracy of ±1% of the reading. In addition, measurements from 1000 to 1500m are made with a lesser degree of accuracy.
Internal Temperature. A 12-bit analog-to-digital converter is used, providing an actual measured range of −40 to +60°C, with 0.05°C resolution and an accuracy of ±0.1°C.
Light level. Light level is measured as irradiance at a wavelength of 550nm with a logarithmic range from 5 x 10−12 W.cm−2 to 5 x 10−2 W.cm−2. Bright sunshine is approximately 2 x 10−3 W.cm−2. Tests have shown the sensor to be able to identify dawn/dusk events down to 300m in clear waters.
Wet/Dry. The wet/dry sensor allows the tag to recognize when it is dry to control sampling and transmissions.
User-programmable sampling protocols
Sampling is controlled by a user-specified sampling protocol. The user programs the rate at which each sensor is sampled, and whether or not sampling is suspended when the wet/dry sensor reads dry. Different channels can be sampled at different rates, so that slowly-changing sensor readings can be sampled less frequently than fast-changing sensor readings.
Memory and data retention
Collected data are stored in non-volatile FLASH memory. Data are maintained for at least 25 years, even if the battery is exhausted. The amount of memory available for data storage is at least 64 MBytes, which allows the Mk10 to store about 50 million samples (sensor readings). Each sample occupies one or two bytes of memory, depending on how the data compress. The memory will allow 5 years of data to be stored when sampling depth, temperature and light-level every 10 seconds.
Battery Life
Efficient power management is attained by using a low-power microcontroller and flash memory. Actual battery life depends on the sampling regime and temperature conditions. Under most deployment conditions, the battery can be expected to provide enough power to read the sensors every second for a year. Batteries can be replaced for extended instrument life.
Communication
Wildlife Computers provides an interface to the Mk10 that runs on a PC. This interface allows the user to set up the tag for deployment, and download the data after recovery.