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GPS Measurement Error Gives Rise to Spurious 180° Turning Angles and Strong Directional Biases in Animal Movement Data

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  • Amy Hurford

Abstract

Background: Movement data are frequently collected using Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, but recorded GPS locations are subject to errors. While past studies have suggested methods to improve location accuracy, mechanistic movement models utilize distributions of turning angles and directional biases and these data present a new challenge in recognizing and reducing the effect of measurement error. Methods: I collected locations from a stationary GPS collar, analyzed a probabilistic model and used Monte Carlo simulations to understand how measurement error affects measured turning angles and directional biases. Results: Results from each of the three methods were in complete agreement: measurement error gives rise to a systematic bias where a stationary animal is most likely to be measured as turning 180° or moving towards a fixed point in space. These spurious effects occur in GPS data when the measured distance between locations is

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  • Amy Hurford, 2009. "GPS Measurement Error Gives Rise to Spurious 180° Turning Angles and Strong Directional Biases in Animal Movement Data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 4(5), pages 1-12, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0005632
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0005632
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    Cited by:

    1. Joseph D. Bailey & Edward A. Codling, 2021. "Emergence of the wrapped Cauchy distribution in mixed directional data," AStA Advances in Statistical Analysis, Springer;German Statistical Society, vol. 105(2), pages 229-246, June.
    2. A. Parton & P. G. Blackwell, 2017. "Bayesian Inference for Multistate ‘Step and Turn’ Animal Movement in Continuous Time," Journal of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Statistics, Springer;The International Biometric Society;American Statistical Association, vol. 22(3), pages 373-392, September.
    3. Tong Liu & Angela R Green & Luis F Rodríguez & Brett C Ramirez & Daniel W Shike, 2015. "Effects of Number of Animals Monitored on Representations of Cattle Group Movement Characteristics and Spatial Occupancy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(2), pages 1-17, February.

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