ADEON STANDARDIZATION

Specifications are being developed and employed during this project so that the collection methodology, processing, and reporting for ADEON soundscape data will also demonstrate a standardization for compatibility with other underwater monitoring programs.  A lack of globally applied standards for underwater acoustic measurements (soundscapes) means that different researchers make different choices for frequency ranges and time averaging windows, often referring to the resulting plethora of different quantities with identical names, making it difficult, and sometimes impossible, to compare like with like.  

During this project, the ADEON team will take measurements of sound pressure at various bottom platform and towed array locations, and create modeled sound maps covering the project's region, all of which contribute to a soundscape.  It is important to have a common understanding of the contents of a soundscape and this project will help facilitate that understanding by specifying the quantity or quantities contained in a soundscape, including the size of spatial or temporal averaging windows, and the precise frequency bands. 

The ADEON standardization objectives are:

  • Ensure compatibility within ADEON between soundscapes based on measurements and those based on models.
  • Ensure compatibility between measurement data from different researchers or institutes within ADEON.
  • Facilitate compatibility between ADEON soundscapes, whether based on measured or modeled prediction, and soundscapes produced by a hypothetical future or parallel project within the US EEZ.
  • Facilitate compatibility between metrics used to quantify ADEON soundscapes and those used to monitor ambient sound in the context of the EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD).

Please direct your comments to ADEON’s PI, Jennifer L. Miksis-Olds, Research Professor at the University of New Hampshire holding positions in the School of Marine Science & Ocean Engineering and the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping. As a team, we encourage your comments and questions about our project, please contact us via J.MiksisOlds@unh.edu