Acoustic localization of antbirds in a Mexican rainforest using a wireless sensor network

Acoustic localization is a promising method to passively observe vocal animal species, but remains difficult and time consuming to employ. To reduce the labor intensity and impact of deployment, an acoustic localization system has been developed consisting of battery powered wireless sensor nodes. The system also has the ability to perform an acoustic self-survey, which compares favorably in accuracy to global positioning system survey methods, especially in environments such as forest. The self-survey and localization accuracy of the system was tested in the neotropical rainforest of Chiapas, Mexico. A straight-forward and robust correlation sum localization computation method was utilized and is described in detail. Both free-ranging wild antbird songs and songs played from a speaker were localized with mean errors of 0.199 m and 0.445 m, respectively. Finally, additional tests utilizing only a short segment of each song or a subset of sensor nodes were performed and found to minimally affect localization accuracy. The use of a wireless sensor network for acoustic localization of animal vocalizations offers greater ease and flexibility of deployment than wired microphone arrays without sacrificing accuracy.