Underwater Noise Measurement Station for Vessels in the Salish Sea
Presentation Abstract
A collaborative project between Port Metro Vancouver, Transport Canada, Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) and JASCO Applied Sciences (Canada) Ltd., has installed an underwater listening station along the northbound (incoming) shipping route to Burrard Inlet. This system is designed to characterize the acoustic emissions of large numbers of vessels that transit a predefined source measurement track. The results are important for assessing marine fauna exposures to noise throughout the Salish Sea and for designing possible vessel noise mitigation strategies. The underwater listening station consists of two AMAR Observer systems from JASCO Applied Sciences, connected to ONC’s VENUS East Node underwater observatory. Each AMAR Observer can accurately track vessels and simultaneously measure vessel sound levels using tetrahedral hydrophone arrays. Further vessel tracking information is provided by a dedicated vessel Automatic Identification System (AIS) installed by ONC. Acoustic data are digitized at 64 kHz on all 8 hydrophone channels, producing a large amount of data (1.5 MB per second). ONC’s East Node also collects salinity, temperature, and water current data. All acoustic and oceanographic data are transmitted in real-time over the VENUS network to ONC’s shore-based storage and high-performance-computer processing systems at University of Victoria. There, JASCO’s automated acoustic software analyzes the data and produces source level measurement reports for each vessel pass. The acoustic range has additional capabilities, including the automatic detection of marine mammal calls and measurement of ambient noise levels. In this presentation we will outline the technical design of the underwater listening station and we will discuss the purpose of these measurements and their relevance for assessing vessel noise in the Salish Sea.
Session Title
Understanding and managing potential cumulative threats to marine mammals and their habitats from commercial vessel activities
Conference Track
Species and Food Webs
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)
Document Type
Event
Start Date
2016 12:00 AM
End Date
2016 12:00 AM
Location
2016SSEC
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Underwater acoustics--Environmental aspects--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Noise--Environmental aspects--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Environmental monitoring--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)--Environmental conditions
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Underwater Noise Measurement Station for Vessels in the Salish Sea
2016SSEC
A collaborative project between Port Metro Vancouver, Transport Canada, Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) and JASCO Applied Sciences (Canada) Ltd., has installed an underwater listening station along the northbound (incoming) shipping route to Burrard Inlet. This system is designed to characterize the acoustic emissions of large numbers of vessels that transit a predefined source measurement track. The results are important for assessing marine fauna exposures to noise throughout the Salish Sea and for designing possible vessel noise mitigation strategies. The underwater listening station consists of two AMAR Observer systems from JASCO Applied Sciences, connected to ONC’s VENUS East Node underwater observatory. Each AMAR Observer can accurately track vessels and simultaneously measure vessel sound levels using tetrahedral hydrophone arrays. Further vessel tracking information is provided by a dedicated vessel Automatic Identification System (AIS) installed by ONC. Acoustic data are digitized at 64 kHz on all 8 hydrophone channels, producing a large amount of data (1.5 MB per second). ONC’s East Node also collects salinity, temperature, and water current data. All acoustic and oceanographic data are transmitted in real-time over the VENUS network to ONC’s shore-based storage and high-performance-computer processing systems at University of Victoria. There, JASCO’s automated acoustic software analyzes the data and produces source level measurement reports for each vessel pass. The acoustic range has additional capabilities, including the automatic detection of marine mammal calls and measurement of ambient noise levels. In this presentation we will outline the technical design of the underwater listening station and we will discuss the purpose of these measurements and their relevance for assessing vessel noise in the Salish Sea.
