Ocean sound levels in the northeast Pacific recorded from an autonomous underwater glider

Abstract

Ocean gliders are a quiet and efficient mobile autonomous platform for passive acoustic monitoring and oceanographic measurements in remote marine environments. During July 20—August 6 2012, we used a Teledyne Webb Research Slocum G2 glider equipped with a hydrophone logging system to record ocean sound along a 458 km north to south traverse of the outer continental shelf break along the U.S. Pacific Northwest coast. Glider derived recordings yielded a unique perspective on the variation of ambient sound with depth, where natural wind generated surface processes were identified as a dominant acoustic contributor to spectral levels in the region. Near and far-field vessel radiated noise were also found to add significant energy to ambient conditions. Spatially distributed measurements of ambient sound levels recorded from the glider were consistent with long-term spectral estimates from fixed station, deep ocean hydrophone array measurements during the 1990–2000’s in the region. Ocean sound level measurements captured by a mobile glider are shown to be an effective and valuable asset for describing ocean surface wind conditions and characterizing spatial and temporal changes in the underwater acoustic environment over a broad regional scale.

Advanced Technologies for Cetacean Monitoring: A One-Health and Multidisciplinary Approach for Ocean Effective Surveillance

“…UAVs features also allow them to be considered as excellent tools for gathering Essential Ocean Variables (http://www.goosocean.org/eov, (accessed on 15 April 2023)), which includes ocean sound [8][9][10] and marine mammals abundance and distribution [11].…”

Compact Quantum Magnetometer System on an Agile Underwater Glider

“…Underwater gliders are particularly suited for magnetometry, because they spend significant operational time with no motors operating. Due to their relatively quiet and gentle operation, gliders have been used for sensitive acoustic measurements in biology and climate studies [ 14 , 15 ]. Commercial gliders, having not been designed with a magnetic signature in mind, may still generate a significant magnetic signal.…”