🔊+🦉 Guide: Bioacoustics Basics with AudioMoth Sensors
This guide provides an overview of the AudioMoth sensor workflow. These materials introduce users to the complete lifecycle of deploying, maintaining, and managing data from AudioMoth bioacoustic sensors, as suggested by Conservation Metrics (CMI).
AudioMoth sensors are low-cost, open-source acoustic recorders used widely in ecological monitoring. This guide walks through best practices for preparing devices, configuring firmware and recording schedules, conducting field deployments, managing redeployments, and processing retrieved data. The goal is to ensure consistent, reliable data collection across projects and teams.
See Tessa Rhienhart's AudioMoth Guide for more detail information on setting up an AudioMoth project.
Use this index as the starting point for navigation.
Guide Overview
1. Sensor Preparation
How to prepare AudioMoth devices and microSD cards prior to deployment, including firmware updates and required desktop and mobile applications.
2. Sensor Programming
Instructions for configuring the AudioMoth recording schedule, gain settings, sampling rate, and time synchronization.
3. Deployment Procedures
Field steps for creating intro recordings, mounting sensors, ensuring correct LED behavior, and documenting deployments.
4. Checking Sensors & Redeployment
Procedures for mid-season battery and card replacement, field-time resets using the Chime app, and consistent metadata recording.
5. Deployment Information Requirements
Descriptions of the required metadata fields for every deployment and retrieval, with formatting rules and data-entry expectations.
6. Data Management & Transfer
Guidance on offloading SD cards, project-level storage requirements, data mule drives, and how to handle corrupted cards.
Appendix 1: Testing Acoustic Sensors
Guidance for testing acoustic sensors prior to field deployments. This page describes best practices to assure your acoustic hardware is functioning prior to putting it out at remote sites for prolonged periods.
Troubleshooting
Additional Resources
Helpful links to official AudioMoth documentation, operation manuals, and user support forums.