AudioMoth: A low-cost acoustic device for monitoring biodiversity and the environment

TLDR

Environmental sound is a powerful data source for investigating ecosystem health, yet scientists typically rely on ruggedized but expensive acoustic monitoring equipment. This paper describes the hardware build of AudioMoth, a low‑cost, small, full‑spectrum acoustic monitoring device. AudioMoth is a credit‑card‑sized device comprising a PCB, micro‑controller, and MEMS microphone, designed for remote deployments, low‑power long‑term monitoring, modular expansion via general‑purpose I/O pins, and onboard acoustic detection.

Abstract

Environmental sound is a powerful data source for investigating ecosystem health. To capture it, scientists commonly use ruggedized, but expensive acoustic monitoring equipment. In this paper we fully describe the hardware build of a low-cost, small, full-spectrum alternative, called AudioMoth. The credit-card sized device consists of a printed circuit board, micro-controller and a micro-electro-mechanical systems microphone. This simple to construct device facilitates: (1) deployments in remote locations, with a small size and a simple mechanism that allows it to be retrofitted into numerous low-cost ruggedized enclosures; (2) long-term monitoring, with low-power operation; (3) modular expansion, with easy to access general purpose input and output pins; and (4) acoustic detection, with onboard processing power.