Marine Wildlife Behavior Database
Metadata

Section 6: Vertical Rate
This section includes fields that describe the rate of travel (change in depth over change in time) in the vertical plane during the ascent and descent portions of a dive. The vertical rate is equivalent to the ascent (surfacing) or descent (diving) rate, and may also be referred to as the vertical speed or the vertical velocity (Houser, 2006; Johnson and Tyack, 2003).

Fields:

• Minimum Ascent Rate
  VR_MinAscentRate(m/s): The minimum ascent rate, change in depth divided by change in time (meters/second).
  
  
• Maximum Ascent Rate
  VR_MaxAscentRate(m/s):   The maximum ascent rate, change in depth divided by change in time (meters/second).
  
  
• Mean Ascent Rate
  VR_MeanAscentRate(m/s): The mean or average ascent rate, change in depth divided by change in time (meters/second).
  
  
• Median Ascent Rate
  VR_MedianAscentRate(m/s): The middle value in the distribution of the ascent rate, change in depth divided by change in time (meters/second). If there is an even number of ascent rate values, it is the average of the two middle values.
  
  
• Mode Ascent Rate
  VR_ModeAscentRate(m/s): The most common ascent rate value; in the frequency distribution, the ascent rate with the greatest number of frequencies (meters/second).
  
  
• Ascent Rate Standard Deviation
  VR_AscentRateStdDev: To express the degree of dispersion in the ascent rate data, the standard deviation (square root of the variance) should be entered (meters/second).
  
  
• Gamma Distribution Alpha
  VR_AscentGammaDistAlpha: The shape parameter of the gamma distribution of ascent rates, determined by submitting data and fitting the raw data in a statistical package.
  
  
• Gamma Distribution Beta
  VR_AscentGammaDistBeta: The rate parameter, equal to 1/Θ (the scale parameter), of the gamma distribution of ascent rates, determined by submitting data and fitting the raw data in a statistical package.
  
  
• Minimum Descent Rate
  VR_MinDescentRate(m/s): The minimum descent rate, change in depth divided by change in time (meters/second).
  
  
• Maximum Descent Rate
  VR_MaxDescentRate(m/s): The maximum descent rate, change in depth divided by change in time (meters/second).
  
  
• Mean Descent Rate
  VR_MeanDescentRate(m/s): The mean or average descent rate, change in depth divided by change in time (meters/second).
  
  
• Median Descent Rate
  VR_MedianDescentRate(m/s): The middle value in the distribution of the descent rate, change in depth divided by change in time (meters/second). If there is an even number of descent rate values, it is the average of the two middle values.
  
  
• Mode Descent Rate
  VR_ModeDescentRate(m/s): The most common descent rate value; in the frequency distribution, the descent rate with the greatest number of frequencies (meters/second).
  
  
• Descent Rate Standard Deviation
  VR_DescentRateStdDev: To express the degree of dispersion in the descent rate data, the standard deviation (square root of the variance) should be entered (meters/second).
  
  
• Descent Gamma Distribution Alpha
  VR_DescentGammaDistAlpha: The shape parameter of the gamma distribution of descent rates, determined by submitting data and fitting the raw data in a statistical package.
  
  
• Descent Gamma Distribution Beta
  VR_DescentGammaDistBeta: The rate parameter, equal to 1/Θ (the scale parameter), of the gamma distribution of descent rates, determined by submitting data and fitting the raw data in a statistical package.
  
  
• Comments
  VR_Comments: Free-form field to note complications with data entry, information to review at a later date, etc.