Research overview: GPS location error filtering and data screening
Raw telemetry data contain implausible points, fixes computed from too few satellites, signal multipath, or transmission glitches, that can corrupt analyses if left in. This overview surveys screening methods that flag and remove or down-weight suspect locations, including thresholds on satellite count and dilution of precision, speed filters that reject biologically impossible movement, and state-space models that smooth noisy paths. Careful screening is especially important for fine-scale studies of hunting and kill sites, where a single errant point can fabricate a phantom excursion. The overview stresses documenting and reporting screening choices so analyses are reproducible. Turning a messy stream of coordinates into a trustworthy trajectory is an unglamorous but essential step in felid movement research.
Species
Category:movement-ecology-tracking
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