“HerdGPS-Preprocessor”—A Tool to Preprocess Herd Animal GPS Data; Applied to Evaluate Contact Structures in Loose-Housing Horses
Sensors delivering information on the position of farm animals have been widely used in precision livestock farming. Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors are already known from applications in military, private and commercial environments, and their application in animal science is increasing. Ho...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/10/1932 |
| _version_ | 1797550296162893824 |
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| author | Jennifer Salau Frederik Hildebrandt Irena Czycholl Joachim Krieter |
| author_facet | Jennifer Salau Frederik Hildebrandt Irena Czycholl Joachim Krieter |
| author_sort | Jennifer Salau |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Sensors delivering information on the position of farm animals have been widely used in precision livestock farming. Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors are already known from applications in military, private and commercial environments, and their application in animal science is increasing. However, as trade-offs between sensor cost, battery life and sensor weight have to be made, GPS based studies scheduling long data collection periods and including a high number of animals, have to deal with problems like high hardware costs and data disruption during recharging of sensors. Furthermore, human–animal interaction due to sensor changing at the end of battery life interferes with the animal behaviour under analysis. The present study thus proposes a setting to deal with these challenges and offers the software tool “HerdGPS-Preprocessor”, because collecting position data from multiple animals nonstop for several weeks produces a high amount of raw data which needs to be sorted, preprocessed and provided in a suitable format per animal and day. The software tool “HerdGPS-Preprocessor” additionally outputs contact lists to enable a straight analysis of animal contacts. The software tool was exemplarily deployed for one month of daily and continuous GPS data of 40 horses in a loose-housing boarding facility in northern Germany. Contact lists were used to generate separate networks for every hour, which are then analysed with regard to the network parameter density, diameter and clique structure. Differences depending on the day and the day time could be observed. More dense networks with more and larger cliques were determined in the hours prior to the opening of additional pasture. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:27:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2192e39b24954d33be6d1637879af04d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:27:17Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-2192e39b24954d33be6d1637879af04d2023-11-20T17:54:15ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152020-10-011010193210.3390/ani10101932“HerdGPS-Preprocessor”—A Tool to Preprocess Herd Animal GPS Data; Applied to Evaluate Contact Structures in Loose-Housing HorsesJennifer Salau0Frederik Hildebrandt1Irena Czycholl2Joachim Krieter3Institute of Animal Breeding and Husbandry, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Olshausenstraße 40, 24098 Kiel, GermanyInstitute of Animal Breeding and Husbandry, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Olshausenstraße 40, 24098 Kiel, GermanyInstitute of Animal Breeding and Husbandry, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Olshausenstraße 40, 24098 Kiel, GermanyInstitute of Animal Breeding and Husbandry, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Olshausenstraße 40, 24098 Kiel, GermanySensors delivering information on the position of farm animals have been widely used in precision livestock farming. Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors are already known from applications in military, private and commercial environments, and their application in animal science is increasing. However, as trade-offs between sensor cost, battery life and sensor weight have to be made, GPS based studies scheduling long data collection periods and including a high number of animals, have to deal with problems like high hardware costs and data disruption during recharging of sensors. Furthermore, human–animal interaction due to sensor changing at the end of battery life interferes with the animal behaviour under analysis. The present study thus proposes a setting to deal with these challenges and offers the software tool “HerdGPS-Preprocessor”, because collecting position data from multiple animals nonstop for several weeks produces a high amount of raw data which needs to be sorted, preprocessed and provided in a suitable format per animal and day. The software tool “HerdGPS-Preprocessor” additionally outputs contact lists to enable a straight analysis of animal contacts. The software tool was exemplarily deployed for one month of daily and continuous GPS data of 40 horses in a loose-housing boarding facility in northern Germany. Contact lists were used to generate separate networks for every hour, which are then analysed with regard to the network parameter density, diameter and clique structure. Differences depending on the day and the day time could be observed. More dense networks with more and larger cliques were determined in the hours prior to the opening of additional pasture.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/10/1932GPS datadata preprocessingprecision livestock farmingherd structurenetwork analysisanimal tracking |
| spellingShingle | Jennifer Salau Frederik Hildebrandt Irena Czycholl Joachim Krieter “HerdGPS-Preprocessor”—A Tool to Preprocess Herd Animal GPS Data; Applied to Evaluate Contact Structures in Loose-Housing Horses Animals GPS data data preprocessing precision livestock farming herd structure network analysis animal tracking |
| title | “HerdGPS-Preprocessor”—A Tool to Preprocess Herd Animal GPS Data; Applied to Evaluate Contact Structures in Loose-Housing Horses |
| title_full | “HerdGPS-Preprocessor”—A Tool to Preprocess Herd Animal GPS Data; Applied to Evaluate Contact Structures in Loose-Housing Horses |
| title_fullStr | “HerdGPS-Preprocessor”—A Tool to Preprocess Herd Animal GPS Data; Applied to Evaluate Contact Structures in Loose-Housing Horses |
| title_full_unstemmed | “HerdGPS-Preprocessor”—A Tool to Preprocess Herd Animal GPS Data; Applied to Evaluate Contact Structures in Loose-Housing Horses |
| title_short | “HerdGPS-Preprocessor”—A Tool to Preprocess Herd Animal GPS Data; Applied to Evaluate Contact Structures in Loose-Housing Horses |
| title_sort | herdgps preprocessor a tool to preprocess herd animal gps data applied to evaluate contact structures in loose housing horses |
| topic | GPS data data preprocessing precision livestock farming herd structure network analysis animal tracking |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/10/1932 |
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