A national bat sampling grid was developed which contains 10 km by 10 km cells. The cells are incrementally numbered so a subset of cells in a region can be selected in numerical order and will result in a spatially balanced random distribution. From this grid, the top 30 cells within South Carolina were selected and analyzed with ArcGIS software to determine if mobile surveying was possible within each cell. Some cells were omitted and replaced with the next cells in numerical order to maintain a random distribution. The selected cells have been grouped with neighboring cells to form weekly survey areas.

NABat surveying in South Carolina consists of two acoustic survey methods: stationary acoustic sampling and mobile acoustic routes, both of which are performed in each cell. Some of the cells which were omitted are surveyed with stationary methods but not by automobile due to a lack of suitable connecting roads. As a result, there are currently a total of 38 survey cells.

Anabat SD2 Bat Detectors with microphones, data cards, and cables are used for data collection. Also, batteries, mic tripods and mounts, and waterproof containers are used in stationary surveys and car suction mounts and car power adapters are used in mobile surveys. See the Equipment section for more information.

Data from mobile surveys is downloaded from detectors as soon as possible (the night of a survey or the following day) and from stationary surveys as soon as equipment is recovered to check for any equipment malfunctions, create backups, and to begin analyses of the data.

For specific protocol and more details on each of these areas, see the links to the left.