Field investigations and comparison of different GPS-GSM tracking systems suitable for cattle in European Alpine ar- eas

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) have been used in numerous studies with domesticated animals for almost two decades. But very few studies focused on the issue of using GPS under extensive pasture conditions combined with extreme relief such as in the Alps. The main aim of this study was therefore to test, evaluate and support development of new tracking systems based on GPS- and GSM- (Global System for Mobile Communications) technology, for optimizing the management of grazing animals especially in the alpine areas of Europe. Two newly developed tracking system prototypes of companies GPS_L and GPS_M were compared with two other commercially available GPS systems of companies GPS_H and GPS_T. Another objective of this study was to analyse the work-flow management of alpine farms in order to evaluate the advantages of using a GPS tracking system in such areas. All tracking systems used in this study were tested on five and six alpine farms over the pasture season of the years 2012 and 2013, respectively. The comparison test focused especially on position accuracy, battery life, user-friendly service, website and smartphone applications as well as availability of other supportive functions such as measurement of temperature of the animal, extreme behaviour and application of geo-fencing. Furthermore, device housing and collar type, way of data transfer, type of satellite system and final costs of the tracking system were compared. Work-flow management was studied on seven alpine farms yearly and five of them were involved in both years 2012 and 2013. The total workload of the herdsman was observed and daily manually registered for 32 activities divided into five categories (organisation, work-farm, work-stable, work-animal and work-forest). Every herdsman carried one GPS data logger in order to estimate daily and total distances and altitude meters needed to control the animals on the pasture and other related activities. A standardized dynamic GPS accuracy test of a GPS data logger and four different tracking systems was conducted in 2013. The data obtained were statistically tested using R software. The comparison test showed important differences among GPS receivers. Overall we can conclude that GPS devices GPS_M and GPS_T performed better under the alpine conditions compared with GPS_L and GPS_H, when GSM reception was available. The battery life was not sufficient in any of the tested GPS receivers when taking into account a 20minute frequency for GPS position fix for the whole pasture period up to six months. The standardized dynamic GPS accuracy test showed significant differences (P ≤0.001) among most of the tested GPS collars and the GPS data logger, except between the prototypes GPS_L and GPS_M (P ≥0.05). The median of the dynamic accuracy ranged from 0.92 m for the GPS data logger to 2.03 m for GPS_M. Work-flow analysis provided insight into alpine farm activities with their different management strategies and pointed out that the time spent for searching and recovering the animals can be very demanding. The usage of tracking system shows potential for optimizing the work load of herdsman and the pasture management but technical improvement is necessary before final implementation.