Conclusion

This study assessed fix rate bias and PDOP on Yukon’s Arctic coast. Through stationary testing collars were placed throughout the landscape and left through the summers of 2009 and 2010 to collect data. The GPS collars were very successful, obtaining a low PDOP average of 4.07, as well as successfully getting a fix 99.7% of the time. The low PDOP values suggest satellite triangulation was good despite the satellite orbits not having prominence over the Yukon’s North Coast. Given the high fix success average and low PDOP average, as well as the low variation between the two, it is safe to assume that the Telonics Gen 3 collars are a suitable choice for further GPS research.

Analysis indicated that there were no strong predictors affecting fix rate, as the data-set was small. Vegetation does appear to have an affect, but requires further study. The limited size of the data-set was one of many other limitations, and therefore more research should be done before any corrections are made to ensure that results are statistically reliable. Ultimately, however, this study found that the Telonics Gen 3 collars suffer from minimal fix rate bias in the Yukon’s Arctic Coast.

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