Good Practice Guide for Underwater Noise Measurement
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Good Practice Guide No. 133 Underwater Noise Measurement [This page is intentionally left blank] Good Practice Guide for Underwater Noise Measurement Summary This document provides guidance on best practice for in-situ measurement of underwater sound, for processing the data, and for reporting the measurements using appropriate metrics. Measured noise levels are sometimes difficult to compare because different measurement methodologies or acoustic metrics are used, and results can take on different meanings for each different application, leading to a risk of misunderstandings between scientists from different disciplines. Acoustic measurements are required for applications as diverse as acoustical oceanography, sonar, geophysical exploration, underwater communications, and offshore engineering. More recently, there has been an increased need to make in-situ measurements of underwater noise for the assessment of risk to marine life. Although not intended as a standard, these guidelines address the need for a common approach, and the desire to promote best practice. The work to prepare this good practice guide was funded in the UK by the National Measurement Office (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills), Marine Scotland (The Scottish Government), and The Crown Estate. NPL Good Practice Guide No. 133 ISSN: 1368-6550 © Crown Copyright 2014 Front page photograph courtesy of iStockphoto Good Practice Guide for Underwater Noise Measurement 1 Acknowledgement of funding The work to produce this guide was supported by Marine Scotland, The Crown Estate, and the National Measurement Office of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Authorship This good practice guide was drafted by Stephen Robinson of the National Physical Laboratory with the assistance of Dr Paul Lepper (Loughborough University) and Dr Richard (Dick) Hazelwood (R&V Hazelwood Associates). Document Review Though the views in this good practice guide are those of the authors, the document was reviewed by a panel of UK acousticians before publication. This enabled a degree of consensus to be developed with regard to the contents, although complete unanimity of opinion is inevitably difficult to achieve. Note that the members of the review panel and their employing organisations have no liability for the contents of this good practice guide. The Review Panel consisted of the following experts (listed in alphabetical order): Dr Philippe Blondel University of Bath Mr Fabrizio Borsani CEFAS Mr John Burrows QinetiQ Ltd Dr Peter Dobbins Ultra Electronics Ltd Dr Richard (Dick) Hazelwood R&V Hazelwood Associates Professor Victor Humphrey ISVR, University of Southampton Dr Paul Lepper Loughborough University Mr Roland Rogers National Oceanography Centre Dr John Smith DSTL Dr Pete Theobald NPL Professor Peter Thorne University of Liverpool Mr Dick Wood Bureau Veritas UK Ltd The project Steering Committee consisted of representatives of Marine Scotland, The Crown Estate, DECC, JNCC, SNH, CEFAS and members of the Scottish Renewables (the representative body of the Scottish renewable energy industry). Recommended citation Good Practice Guide for Underwater Noise Measurement, National Measurement Office, Marine Scotland, The Crown Estate, Robinson, S.P., Lepper, P. A. and Hazelwood, R.A., NPL Good Practice Guide No. 133, ISSN: 1368-6550, 2014. Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge the assistance of the review panel, the steering committee, and the many people who volunteered valuable comments on the draft at the consultation phase. Date of issue This date of issue of this guide is 28th March 2014. © Crown Copyright 2014. Future revisions Revisions to this guide will be considered in December 2014. Any suggestions for additional material or modification to existing material are welcome, and should be communicated to Stephen Robinson, NPL ([email protected]). 2 Good Practice Guide for Underwater Noise Measurement Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Background ............................................................................................................................. 7 1.2 Scope ....................................................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Current international standards and recent developments ................................................... 8 1.4 Exclusions from the scope of these guidelines ....................................................................... 9 2. Metrics .......................................................................................................................................... 11 2.1 Acoustic quantities ................................................................................................................ 11 2.1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 11 2.1.2 Definitions of basic quantities and metrics ................................................................... 11 2.2 Levels in decibels................................................................................................................... 16 2.2.1 Use of decibels .............................................................................................................. 16 2.2.2 Acoustic quantities expressed as levels ........................................................................ 17 2.3 Recommended metrics for reporting underwater sound .................................................... 20 2.3.1 Pulsed (impulsive) sounds ............................................................................................. 20 2.3.2 Continuous sounds ........................................................................................................ 22 3. Measuring instrumentation .......................................................................................................... 23 3.1 System performance ............................................................................................................. 23 3.1.1 Sensitivity ...................................................................................................................... 23 3.1.2 Frequency response ...................................................................................................... 24 3.1.3 Directivity ...................................................................................................................... 25 3.1.4 System Self-Noise .......................................................................................................... 25 3.1.5 Dynamic range .............................................................................................................. 27 3.1.6 Potential issues with autonomous recorders ............................................................... 28 3.2 Calibration ............................................................................................................................. 29 3.2.1 System Calibration ........................................................................................................ 29 3.2.2 In-situ calibration checks............................................................................................... 32 3.2.3 In-situ QA checks ........................................................................................................... 32 3.3 Data storage .......................................................................................................................... 33 4. Deployment for noise measurement ............................................................................................ 35 4.1 Measurement configurations ............................................................................................... 35 4.1.1 Vessel-based surveys .................................................................................................... 35 4.1.2 Static systems (moored systems) .................................................................................. 36 Good Practice Guide for Underwater Noise Measurement 3 4.1.3 Drifting systems ............................................................................................................ 36 4.2 Hydrophone deployment ...................................................................................................... 37 4.2.1 Hydrophone depth ........................................................................................................ 37 4.2.2 Number of hydrophones ............................................................................................... 38 4.2.3 Examples of deployments ............................................................................................. 38 4.3 Deployment related noise sources ....................................................................................... 39 4.3.1 Flow noise ..................................................................................................................... 39 4.3.2 Cable strum ................................................................................................................... 40 4.3.3 Surface “heave” ............................................................................................................ 41 4.3.4 Vessel noise ..................................................................................................................