Acoustic Telemetry Range Testing Using Omnidirectional Stationary Receivers in Lake Erie

Passive acoustic telemetry has helped researchers answer critical questions pertaining to aquatic animals’ behavior, movement, migrations, and habitat associations. To ensure accurate interpretation of passive acoustic telemetry data, the relationship between detection probability and the distance between the receiver and transmitter must be assessed. The receiver’s detection range can be highly variable, both spatially and temporally, as environmental conditions change. Failure to measure the receiver’s detection range, and its variability, make it impossible to accurately interpret what a detection represents; yet, many studies neglect to adequately quantify and incorporate detection ranges. The objective of our study was to quantify detection range variation under fluctuating environmental conditions over time. Fixed and moving transmitters were used concurrently with receivers that were stationary, omnidirectional, and passive over a three month period in Buffalo Harbor, New York, in Lake Erie. We modeled detection probability as a function of a suite of environmental factors. These results will aid researchers using the Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System network in appropriate interpretation of detections from tagged fish within our acoustic array.