The incorporation of quick fix pseudoranging (QFP) technology into global positioning system (GPS) collars has the potential to increase location-fix success for terrestrial species. Units enabled with QFP obtain the data necessary to calculate an accurate GPS location-fix during post-processing with just a 3–5 second view of a satellite constellation. Fix-success rate is one of the main sources of error in GPS telemetry studies, creating an inherent bias resulting in misleading data interpretations and incorrect inferences about habitat use. During winter 2017–2018, we captured 20 adult female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and fitted them with QFP-enabled GPS collars on 2 study areas (10/site) in northcentral and northeastern Minnesota, with an additional 40 collars (20/site) deployed during winter 2018–2019. Prior to deployment of the GPS collars on free-ranging deer, we conducted stationary tests to evaluate location-fix-success and spatial accuracy of 48 (of the 60) collars distributed among 4 different vegetative cover types. We recovered 100% of the expected 3,024 location-fixes during the stationary tests. The overall mean location error of the GPS collars was 5.7 m (±0.15 [SE], range = 0–189 m), with errors in dense conifer (10.3 ± 0.52, range = 0–189 m) being greater than in hardwood stands (6.2 ± 0.22, range = 0–91 m), browse patches (3.2 ± 0.08, range = 0–26 m), and openings (3.2 ± 0.08, range = 0–32 m). Similarly, we evaluated the performance of 30 collars deployed on free-ranging deer. We deployed collars for a mean 79.5 days (±7.22, range = 1.8–153.8 days) with a fix-success rate of 100% (34,758 location-fixes); QFP accounted for 11.3% of the 34,758 location-fixes. Our results suggest that the addition of QFP capabilities effectively increased fix-success of GPS collars on free-ranging deer by 11%. An increase in fix-success rate can be of considerable value to movement, distribution, and habitat selection studies, where bias associated with missing data can create unreliable or even false inferences. © 2021 The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

---

技术进步提高了白尾鹿 GPS 项圈的修复成功率

将快速定位伪距 (QFP) 技术纳入全球定位系统 (GPS) 项圈有可能提高陆地物种的定位成功率。启用 QFP 的单元在后处理期间获取计算准确 GPS 定位所需的数据，只需 3-5 秒的卫星星座视图。修复成功率是 GPS 遥测研究中误差的主要来源之一，它会产生固有偏差，从而导致对栖息地使用的误导性数据解释和错误推断。2017-2018 年冬季，我们捕获了 20 只成年雌性白尾鹿（Odocoileus virginianus) 并在明尼苏达州中北部和东北部的 2 个研究区域（10 个/站点）安装支持 QFP 的 GPS 项圈，并在 2018-2019 年冬季部署了额外的 40 个项圈（20 个/站点）。在将 GPS 项圈部署到自由放养的鹿上之前，我们进行了静态测试，以评估分布在 4 种不同植被类型中的 48 个（60 个）项圈的定位成功率和空间精度。在固定测试期间，我们恢复了预期的 3,024 个位置修复的 100%。GPS 项圈的整体平均定位误差为 5.7 m（±0.15 [SE]，范围 = 0–189 m），密集针叶树的误差（10.3 ± 0.52，范围 = 0–189 m）大于硬木林分（6.2 ± 0.22，范围 = 0–91 m），浏览补丁（3.2 ± 0.08，范围 = 0–26 m）和开口（3.2 ± 0.08，范围 = 0–32 m）。相似地，我们评估了部署在自由放养鹿身上的 30 个项圈的性能。我们平均部署项圈 79.5 天（±7.22，范围 = 1.8-153.8 天），修复成功率为 100%（34,758 个位置修复）；QFP 占 34,758 个位置修复的 11.3%。我们的结果表明，QFP 功能的添加有效地将 GPS 项圈在自由放养鹿身上的固定成功率提高了 11%。修复成功率的增加对于移动、分布和栖息地选择研究具有相当大的价值，其中与缺失数据相关的偏差会产生不可靠甚至错误的推断。© 2021 野生动物协会。我们的结果表明，QFP 功能的添加有效地将 GPS 项圈在自由放养鹿身上的固定成功率提高了 11%。修复成功率的增加对于移动、分布和栖息地选择研究具有相当大的价值，其中与缺失数据相关的偏差会产生不可靠甚至错误的推断。© 2021 野生动物协会。我们的结果表明，QFP 功能的添加有效地将 GPS 项圈在自由放养鹿身上的固定成功率提高了 11%。修复成功率的增加对于移动、分布和栖息地选择研究具有相当大的价值，其中与缺失数据相关的偏差会产生不可靠甚至错误的推断。© 2021 野生动物协会。