A Miniature Archival Tag for Long Range Fish Tracking in the Ocean

水生动物的标记是用来揭示运动模式，家庭范围，栖息地的喜好，性别差异，分布模式等，并代表了多年来一直采用的方法。在之前的NSF资助下，PI开发了一种微型RAFOS接收器，设计用于研究鲑鱼，比目鱼和大西洋鳕鱼等（小型）鱼类的运动。原型已经完成。这项提案要求提供资金，以完成鱼标签组件（设计工作已经完成），并建立100多个设备的现场测试跟踪黄尾比目鱼在南图克特灯船保护区。他们计划通过校正晶体振荡器的温度依赖性来提高时间保持能力，从而提高信号检测系统的性能，并延长信号相关器，以提高远距离信号检测能力。 广泛的影响是优秀的，主要源于微型化带来的潜在应用。长期影响可能比鱼类标签更普遍。海洋学家可以利用鱼类作为传感器平台，生态学家可以利用有关洄游和物理环境的信息来加强对鱼类洄游的了解。因此，新技术可能对跨学科研究具有重要意义，并促进各领域之间的科学合作。这是理解和量化生物物理相互作用的基础，而生物物理相互作用是理解和建模生态系统的先决条件。

Tagging of aquatic animals is used to reveal movement patterns, home range, habitat preferences, gender differences, distribution patterns, etc. and represents a methodology that has been employed for many years. With previous NSF funding the PI developed a miniaturized RAFOS receiver on a microchip designed to study the movements of (small) fishes such as salmon, flounder and Atlantic cod. The prototype was completed. This proposal requests funding to complete the fish-tag assembly (the design work for which is done), and build 100 plus devices for a field test tracking yellowtail flounder in the Nantucket Lightship Protected Area. They plan to improve the performance of the signal detection system by improving the time keeping by correcting for the temperature dependence of the crystal oscillator and lengthen the signal correlator to improve the signal detection capability at extended distances.Broader Impacts: The Broader Impacts were excellent, stemming primarily from the potential application arising from the miniaturization. The long-term impact is likely to be much more general than fish tagging. Oceanographers can use fish as sensor platforms and ecologist can use information about migration and the physical environment to enhance understanding of fish migration. The new technology may thus become important for interdisciplinary research and stimulate scientific cooperation among fields. This is fundamental for understanding and quantification of biophysical interactions which is a prerequisite for ecosystem understanding and modeling.