When to Smell in Stereo

Abstract

Recent works have highlighted the use of dual nostril 'stereo' olfaction by a variety of animals. In this work we perform "back of the envelope" calculations to determine when stereo olfaction is useful compared to single nostril 'mono' olfaction. We find that stereo olfaction is advantageous when there are large relative changes in the odour concentration, and when the spatial length scales of correlations in air are large, such as in the boundary layer near surfaces. In other words, stereo olfaction is useful when animals are searching surfaces for olfactory edges, such as when tracking odour trails.