An interoperable architecture for in situ ocean noise monitoring

Abstract

Anthropogenic noise in the oceans has been significantly raising in the past decades due to an increment of human activities, adversely affecting the marine habitat. In order to assess and limit this impact, the long -term monitoring of underwater noise is crucial. Currently, real -time ocean sound data is mainly obtained using cabled observatories, where communications and power are not a constraint. The temporal and spatial coverage of in -situ measurements would be greatly improved if other observation systems such as gliders, moored buoys and profilers could provide real -time ocean sound data. However, these platforms have some intrinsic constraints such as telemetry, computational capacity and power availability. In order to overcome these limitations, an in situ ocean sound monitoring tool is proposed. This tool aims to provide a standardized and homogeneous framework for ocean sound monitoring, compliant with the MSFD directive, capable of interfacing any off -the -shelf hydrophone and deployable from almost any observation platform regardless of its underlying architecture.