Full Record - GPS tracks of Adelie penguins at Signy Island, South Orkneys Islands, 2011-2016

GPS tracks of Adelie penguins at Signy Island, South Orkneys Islands, 2011-2016

GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/02017

Abstract:
This dataset comprises Global Positioning System (GPS) data for Adelie penguins, Pygoscelid adeliae, at Signy Island, South Orkneys Islands, from December 2011 to January 2016 (austral summer). Adelie penguins were fitted with GPS tags at Signy Island to better understand their movement for seabird conservation and management. This data includes GPS positions at specified intervals for deployed tags, with additional metadata on the morphology of the birds, their deployment and breeding.

Work was carried out by personnel at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and was funded by Natural Environment Research Council (UK) core funding to BAS.

Citation:
Ratcliffe, N., Manco, F., & Manthorpe, S.J. (2025). GPS tracks of Adelie penguins at Signy Island, South Orkneys Islands, 2011-2016 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/55b4d36f-c5e1-4d64-bb14-0b832dcd4b88

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http://ramadda.data.bas.ac.uk/repository/entry/show?entryid=55b4d36f-c5e1-4d64-bb14-0b832dcd4b88

ASSOCIATED DATA SET(S)

REFERENCE MATERIALS

https://www.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4519

License

Access:	There are no access constraints on this dataset.
Use:	This data is governed by the NERC data policy http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/sites/data/policy/ and supplied under Open Government Licence v.3 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/.

Authors

Name	UK Polar Data Centre
Role(s)	Metadata Author
Organisation	British Antarctic Survey

Name	Dr Norman Ratcliffe
Role(s)	Technical Contact, Investigator
Organisation	British Antarctic Survey

Name	Fabrizio Manco
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	Anglia Ruskin University

Name	Ms Sarah J Manthorpe
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	British Antarctic Survey

Basic Information

Creation Date:	2025-03-03
Dataset Progress:	Planned
Dataset Language:	English
ISO Topic Categories:	Biota
Parameters:	Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Diurnal Movements Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Feeding Habitat Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Food-web Dynamics Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Indicator Species Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Population Dynamics Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Range Changes Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Trophic Dynamics Biosphere > Zoology

Additional Information

Reference:	Dias, M.P., Carneiro, A.P.B., Warwick-Evans, V., Harris, C., Lorenz, K., Lascelles, B., Clewlow, H.L., Dunn, M.J., Hinke, J.T., Kim, J.H., Kokubun, N., Manco, F., Ratcliffe, N., Santos, M., Takahashi, A., Trivelpiece, W., Trathan, P.N. (2018) Identification of marine Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas for penguins around the South Shetland Islands and South Orkney Islands. Ecology and Evolution 8(21): 10520-10529. doi: 10.1002/ece3.4519.
Quality:	Files were included the timestamp, latitude and longitude in decimal degrees. Any NaN or '0.00' values (in latitude and longitude) were removed. When the sex of the bird was not known, 'U' was used in the metadata file.
Lineage/Methodology:	Global Positioning system (GPS) devices were fitted to 51 Adelie penguins on Signy Island between December and February, over three seasons between the years 2011 to 2019. Breeding penguins were caught during incubation, brood and creche periods and fitted with GPS loggers (Sirtrack Fastloc) using Tessa tape and a two-part quick-setting glue. Handling time did not exceed 10 minutes for deployment and 5 minutes for retrieval. Loggers were always less than 1 percent of the bird's body mass. Devices were retrieved on average after 4.7 days. GPS loggers recorded locations every 4 minutes, with longer intervals if the GPS could not connect to satellites (when the bird was underwater). The number of retrieved tags with data per year are as follows: 2011-2012: 11 2013-2014: 23 2015-2016: 11

Extent

Temporal Coverage:
Start Date	2012-12-21
End Date	2016-01-25

Spatial Coverage:
Latitude
Southernmost	-60.7432
Northernmost	-56.56792
Longitude
Westernmost	-45.58767
Easternmost	-36.66449
Altitude
Min Altitude	N/A
Max Altitude	N/A
Depth
Min Depth	N/A
Max Depth	N/A

Location:
Location	Antarctica
Detailed Location	Signy Island, South Orkney Islands

Instrumentation

Sensor(s):	GPS > Global Positioning System
Data Collection:	Sirtrack Fastloc 33 F2G133A (38.4 g in air, 65 x 28 x 22 mm) with 40 mm whip antenna Sirtrack Fastloc 33 F3G133A (31.0 g in air, 63 x 24 x 22 mm) with 40 mm whip antenna

Storage

Data Storage:	Deployment IDs given as the following: Two code abbreviation for the island + one letter code for the species + deployment number Two-code abbreviation: Signy Island: SI One letter code for species: Adelie penguin: A Deployment IDs were used as file names. File names include '_GPS' abbreviation. Deployment IDs match with related TDR dataset. Files that are linked have the same filename except for the last abbreviation: '_GPS' or '_TDR'. Deployment ID structure also matches related datasets on GPS and TDR tracks for other pygoscelids tracked from the South Orkney islands. 41x .csv files with data (1 per deployment) 1x .csv file with metadata 1x. txt file with header metadata including citation and DOI

Data Storage:

Deployment IDs given as the following:
Two code abbreviation for the island + one letter code for the species + deployment number

Two-code abbreviation:
Signy Island: SI

One letter code for species:
Adelie penguin: A

Deployment IDs were used as file names. File names include '_GPS' abbreviation.

Deployment IDs match with related TDR dataset. Files that are linked have the same filename except for the last abbreviation: '_GPS' or '_TDR'. Deployment ID structure also matches related datasets on GPS and TDR tracks for other pygoscelids tracked from the South Orkney islands.

41x .csv files with data (1 per deployment)
1x .csv file with metadata
1x. txt file with header metadata including citation and DOI