Bat Acoustic Data Submission Instructions

TERN is publishing acoustic animal call files and call information for further reuse. These datasets will be made discoverable through TERN infrastructure for the wider animal acoustic research community. The flowchart below explains the bat acoustic data submission and publication process. In the future, similar process will be setup for other animals.

Before submitting data to TERN, you will need:

Sound files (.wav and/or .zc)
Embedded GUANO metadata within each file
A pulse metric file (PULSE.csv)
Information describing your project or dataset for SHaRED

The submission process consists of:

Preparing sound files
Checking GUANO metadata
Generating a PULSE.csv file
Uploading files to TERN storage
Completing dataset metadata in SHaRED

1. Sound files and pre-submit processing

Sound files

Both .zc and .wav files are acceptable.
It is recommended that all file names include the recording device's name as a suffix to the sound file name (e.g. SN123456_2026-05-07 01-01-30.wav).
It is recommended to include files that have at least four bat-call pulses and are of reasonable quality.

File-related information - GUANO

GUANO (Grand Unified Acoustic Notation Ontology) is a standard for embedding metadata directly inside acoustic sound files. It allows information such as location, species identification and collector names to remain attached to recordings regardless of where the files are stored.

Important information about each recording should be stored in the embedded GUANO metadata of the file itself. This ensures the information stays attached to the file and is not lost if files are moved or shared.

All GUANO metadata fields are read automatically when files are loaded into the TERN database.
Metadata can be viewed and edited in Anabat Insight, Kaleidoscope and other software (see Section 2 ).

Field naming flexibility

Different software tools use slightly different prefixes for GUANO fields. TERN accepts all of the following formats for the same field:
- Record context (AnaLook / no prefix)
- TERNbat|Record context (Anabat Insight)
- WA|Record context (Kaleidoscope)
The important thing is that the field name ends with the correct suffix as listed in Table 1 below.

Required metadata fields

The minimum information required for each sound file is listed in the Table 1 below. Files without a species identification are valuable and acceptable — the three core fields below are still required.

Table 1. Example metadata entries and formatting requirements.

Metadata field	Sample format	Notes
Minimum information required
Location	-19.678967, 146.976445	Decimal degrees, 4–6 decimal places. Latitude first, then longitude.
Collected By	Robson SKA Robson SKA; Edwards W	Full name or surname + initials Separate fields with a `;`
Site	Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) NP Carrington Cave Ross River	List the name of any national Parks first, if any, followed by more specific locations. Some NP’s have the indigenous name first, others the reverse. National Park and State Forest can be abbreviated to NP and SF respectively
Project	Mt Etna Reardon Australian Bat Acoustics	A project is a logical collection of bat acoustic data that has a common origin, purpose, or ownership. More details in this page: Bat Acoustic Data Organisation and Project Structure (draft) If you are not using a specific project name, please use <Country>_<Surname>, e.g., Australia_Robson.
Required if Genus or Species identification provided
Species	Rhinonicteris aurantia Rhinonicteris aurantia; Macroderma gigas	Use full genus and species. Separate multiple species with a semicolon. Genus or family is acceptable if species was not resolved.
Identified by	Robson SKA Robson SKA; Edwards W	please provide the name of the person(s) who identified the species if, the species name is provided. Full name or surname + initials Separate individuals with a `;`
ID method	Captured Visual Call	Captured= identified in the hand Visual = observed flying or at roost Call = identified from acoustic recording (default for most observations)
ADDITIONAL VALUABLE INFORMATION IF AVAILABLE
Record context	Free flying Release In bag Cave entrance Mine entrance Roost entrance Enclosure Overwater	'Record context is a critical element that should help with species identification. Most calls will be 'Free flying'. The majority of calls collected outside a known Miniopterus maternity cave for example will be Miniopterus, but not all. Additional call types may be relevant
Sex	Female Male
Life stage	Adult Juvenile Pregnant Lactating Postlactating
Call Features	Buzz Social Song Subharmonics Harmonics Steep

Important: Do NOT include a comma (,) in any metadata field value, except in the Location and Timestamp fields. Commas interfere with the GUANO metadata format.

Example of a GUANO metadata

Location: -19.678967, 146.976445
Collected By: Robson SKA
Site: Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) NP
Species: Rhinonicteris aurantia
Identified By: Robson SKA
ID Method: Call
Record Context: Free flying
Project: Australian Bat Acoustic Collection

How to edit GUANO metadata

Q: Do I need to manually enter Record Context and Collected By for 50,000 files?

A: Metadata can be added individually or in bulk. For most datasets, fields such as Record Context and Collected By are applied to all files using batch editing tools.

Instructructions of batch editing GUANO for Anabat devices users

Download Anabat Insight and install.
Detailed user guide can be downloaded in here: https://www.titley-scientific.com/product/anabat-insight/
Lauch Anabat Insight > Plugins > check TERN Project

You will find some TERN customised metadata fields in Metadata lists:

The metadata lists will show up at the bottom of the screen once they are checked. You may easily and quickly add related GUANO metadata fields to each recording file. More details of how to edit/add/delete fields can be found in Anabat Insight User Manual.

For batch editing the GUANO metadata, e.g., add Collected by: Huang G.to all files in the direcory folder, right click the folder > add Metadata

Select Collected byfrom drop down menu

Type in the name and click ok

If the field you intended to add is not in the list, e.g Project, go to Metadata lists, click New/Edit

Click add list > type Projectin Metadata Type, and provide specific values in Metadata

Instructions of batch editing GUANO for Wildlife Acoustic devices Users

Download Kaleidoscope (pro or lite) from Wildlife Acoustic website: https://www.wildlifeacoustics.com/ and install
For general information and detailed instructions of Kaleidoscope, please refer to this page: https://answers.wildlifeacoustics.com/v/u/en-US/Kaleidoscope-User-Guide?content-lang=en-US
Download this .xml project form:
Lauch Kaleidoscope and select Input directory(the folder that contains the files that need to be processed) and output directory(the folder to save the processed files)
Add the downloaded TERNbat_project form:

Fill in the required information:

Click Process Files

You can only edit metadata fields that were added by the user. Default recorder metadata (e.g. Timestamp, Device serial number) may not be able to changed through Anabat Insight or Kaleidoscope. If GPS coordinates are incorrect (e.g. recorded as 0, 0), please contact the TERN help desk at esupport@tern.org.au for assistance.

2. Pulse Metric Files

What is a PULSE.csv file?

A PULSE.csv file summarising the acoustic metrics for each recording must be provided alongside your sound files. This file contains measurements such as characteristic frequency, maximum frequency, minimum frequency and pulse duration for each recording. These metrics allow TERN users to search and filter recordings by acoustic characteristics without needing to re-process the original sound files.

Each folder containing sound files should have a corresponding PULSE.csv file describing those recordings.

How to generate a PULSE.csv file?

TERN currently recommends generating PULSE.csv files using the free version of Anabat Insight.

Although Anabat Insight Free cannot display spectrograms or edit recordings generated by Wildlife Acoustics devices, it can still process these files and generate the required PULSE.csv report.

To generate a PULSE.csv file:

Launch Anabat Insight.
Select File > Open Directory.
Browse to and select the folder containing the sound files you wish to process.
The folder will appear in the Stores panel.
Right-click the folder and select Generate Reports.
A report configuration window will appear.
Complete each field exactly as shown in the screenshot below.
Click Generate.

Anabat Insight will generate a PULSE.csv file containing acoustic metrics for all compatible recordings within the selected folder.

The PULSE.csv file must be named using the same name as the folder containing the sound files, with "_PULSE.csv" appended to the end. The file should be saved in the same folder as the recordings.

For example:

Folder:
Swift1

Generated file:
Swift1_PULSE.csv

Using CoESRA instead of installing Anabat Insight

If you do not wish to install Anabat Insight on your local computer, you can generate the PULSE.csv file through CoESRA.

CoESRA is TERN's cloud-based virtual desktop environment that provides access to acoustic processing software through a web browser. Once your sound files have been uploaded to TERN storage through SFTPGo (refers to Section 4 below), the files become available within CoESRA and can be processed using Anabat Insight running on a virtual machine.

To access CoESRA, visit:

coresra.tern.org.au

You can find the files you uploaded at Desktop/TERN Data Collection/Bat_Acoustic_staging/Username

You can open Anabat Insight from Applications menu:

User guide of CoESRA is available here: TERN CoESRA User Guide

If you cannot generate a PULSE.csv file

If you are unable to generate a PULSE.csv file using Anabat Insight or CoESRA, please contact the TERN help desk at esupport@tern.org.au.

TERN staff can assist with generating pulse metrics from your submitted sound files where required.

3. Deciding how your data should be organised

Before submitting data, you should decide whether your recordings should be published as a new project or added to an existing project within TERN's bat acoustic data infrastructure.

A project is a logical collection of bat acoustic data that shares a common purpose, ownership, monitoring program or research activity. Each project is associated with its own metadata record and is displayed as a separate project within the EcoAcoustics Dashboard.

Examples of projects include:

Australian Bat Acoustics
United Kingdom Bat Acoustics
City of Wanneroo Bat Survey
Brisbane Bat Monitoring

When deciding how your data should be organised, consider the following questions:

Is this a standalone dataset that should be independently discoverable and citable?
Is this part of an existing monitoring program or research project?
Will additional recordings be added to this dataset in the future?
Would it make sense for future contributors to submit data into the same collection?

In general:

Independent research projects, monitoring programs and legacy datasets are usually published as separate projects.
Additional recordings collected as part of an existing project should usually be merged into that project.

If you are unsure whether your data should form a new project or be added to an existing one, please contact the TERN help desk before submitting.

For more information about project structure, metadata records, country collections and storage organisation, please refer to the Bat Acoustic Data Organisation and Project Structure guide.

4. Submitting your data

Data files

All data files should be uploaded to TERN storage through SFTPGo service. Please get in touch with the TERN help desk via esupport@tern.org.au to arrange data transfer.

SHaRED metadata

All individual data submission happens using the TERN data submission tool so that all required metadata are captured.

If submitting an individual collected dataset, Please go to the https://shared.tern.org.au/ to start the submission processes. The SHaRED online tool will enable users to author metadata about the data they want to submit and upload all acoustic data files before agreeing to the terms of use. For more information on how to submit datasets via SHaRED, please see the TERN SHaRED User Guide.

After submission

Once data has been submitted, it will be reviewed and approved before publication. Data providers will be notified when their files are accessible from the TERN portal for the wider community.