How do we interpret the data we receive?

The satellite tags we use to track our woodcock provide us with data every three days, with the information presented in tables like the one below:

The columns highlighted in red show the information required to build a ‘flight map’ on Google Maps, such as the one on the Woodcock Watch website.

'Program' is the unique program number that our project has been allocated and ‘PTT' is the identification number for each bird’s satellite tag.

'Location class' provides an indication of the accuracy of the data. A number denotes a position which is accurate to within 1km and a letter indicates a margin of error too large to display on the map.

All the data we receive from these files is automatically processed by a computer program every 24 hours. As new files are received the program scans them for the appropriate location data so the map you see on the Woodcock Watch website is updated accordingly.

Simple!

Please help us continue our woodcock research