Manage Argos data in Movebank

Movebank has a number of features designed especially for Argos users. For ongoing studies, Movebank allows you to create live feeds of Argos data, which will look for and import new locations to your study in Movebank approximately every six hours. You can filter incoming data, view statistics about these data, and subscribe to receive e-mail notifications. For data that are already collected, Movebank allows you to upload DIAG, DS or .csv files of processed datasets.

To add Argos data to Movebank, begin by registering for a free account and logging in at movebank.org. Next, create a new study. From the Studies page, you can upload existing Argos data or create and manage Argos subscriptions.

Create a new Argos subscription

  • Go to your study in the Studies page.
  • Select Live Feeds > Argos Monitor.
  • Select New and choose which Argos channel to use to access your data. Enter your Argos Program ID, user name, and password.
  • Select Test connection.
  • Once the connection is working, select which data to download and import to your study.
  • For Argos Doppler-based locations, you can configure a filter based on the Argos location class or the the Douglas Argos Filter (see Douglas et al. 2012).
  • Click Finish.

Manage live Argos feeds

After you have created an Argos subscription, Movebank will automatically update your study with new data from Argos approximately every six hours. You can view and manage your subscriptions by selecting Live Feeds from the Studies page. You will see a Live Argos feed monitor, which shows the current status of data imports of the selected Argos program. You can modify your subscriptions by choosing a program and selecting Edit. Movebank can also give you summary statistics about your Argos data and send you periodic e-mail notifications with statistics and a KML file of locations.

Upload existing Argos data

If you have already collected Argos data, you can also upload these data to Movebank. You can upload data in raw DIAG format, raw DS format (for Microwave or GeoTrak tags), or processed data in a generic tabular format.

  • Go to your study in the Studies page.
  • Select Upload > Import data > GPS data or Argos Doppler data.
  • Follow these instructions to import the data.

What to do with your Argos data after they are in Movebank

After you have your live Argos feed working, Movebank offers a variety of tools to help you work with and share your data. For example, you can easily view your updated tracks on a map, adjust your Argos filter settings, or link your movement data to hundreds of environmental parameters from global remote sensing datasets and weather models using the Env-DATA System. Flexible permissions options allow you to keep your data to yourself, share them with Collaborators, or make them available to the public. If you want to formally archive your dataset, you can submit it for publication in the Movebank Data Repository, a public online archive hosted at the University of Konstanz.


Data management and analysis

Quality control of uploaded data

Define deployments and outliers

Deployment Manager

Event Editor

Data filters

  General purpose data filters

  Argos data filters

Manage Argos data

Manage geolocator data

Delete data