SEAFWA 2018

AUTHORS: Robert Currier, Barbara Kirkpatrick, Chris Simoniello – Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System/Texas A&M University

ABSTRACT: The tagging and tracking of aquatic animals using acoustic telemetry hardware has traditionally been the purview of individual researchers that specialize in single species. Concerns over data privacy and unauthorized use of receiver arrays have prevented the construction of large-scale, multi-species, multi-institution, multi-researcher collaborative acoustic arrays. SBAN was constructed to address the following concerns: guarantee data privacy; establish a sense of community and collaboration; facilitate a regional approach to addressing bigger science problems; provide the ability to monitor aquatic animals over larger spacial scales; integrate detection data with real-time and modeled oceanographic data; provide interoperability with other telemetry networks and to allow for the use of data in outreach and education. This presentation will cover in detail the methodology we used to build SBAN, including Python and Flask, the Leaflet mapping library, database tools and our custom authentication system. We will discuss the importance of regular feedback from the science community and the need for developers to become fully immersed in the day-to-day requirements of the principal investigators. Without subject matter expertise it is impossible for software engineers to develop productive and functional systems. Finally, we will provide a demonstration of SBAN including user authentication, data entry, data visualization and using the oceanographic data overlays to improve understanding of spatial and temporal habitat use.