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software

Mk10-A Data-Collecting Argos Tag

The Mk10-A is a data-collecting Argos satellite tag, similar to the SPLASH tag. The difference is that this tag combines the sampling and detailed data storage functions of the Mk10 archival tag, rather than the Mk9, 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. At least 64 Mbytes of non-volatile memory are available for the archived data. The Mk10-A 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 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.

Tag activation The Mk10 tag can be turned on and off with a magnet. An LED flash sequence indicates whether the tag is in standby mode or deployed.

Transmitter The Mk10 incorporates the Cricket, a specialized Argos transmitter developed by Wildlife Computers. It generates 0.5W of radiated power output. The high-efficiency and frequency stability of this transmitter maximize the quantity and quality of messages.

Transmitted data You can program the Mk10 to selectively transmit time-at-depth, time-at-temperature, maximum depth and dive duration histograms, depth-temperature profiles, timelines, behavior and light-level curves. For the histograms you can configure the histogram collection period (1 to 24 hours) and bin ranges. Many other parameters are user-programmable and provide the flexibility to customize data collection to best achieve different experimental objectives.

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

Analysis software Windows-based software is provided to decode the Argos data into an easy-to-use format.