A software workbench for estimating the effects of cumulative sound exposure in marine mammals

The U.S. Navy has initiated a multidisciplinary research and development program to study the Effects of Sound on the Marine Environment (ESME). As part of this effort, the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is developing a software workbench for estimating the effects of cumulative sound exposure on marine mammals. This paper describes the workbench, and presents some preliminary simulation results. The workbench integrates data sets and computer models contributed by researchers in the areas of oceanography, underwater acoustic propagation, and marine mammal physiology and behavior. Models are incorporated for simulating animal movement, for estimating the received acoustic time series along an animal's track, and for predicting temporary threshold shifts (TTSs) induced by acoustic exposure. TTS predictions are shown to be highly dependent upon both the environmental variables and the movement of the marine mammals.     

Comparison of methods used for computing the impact of sound on the marine environment

Concern about the impact of sound on marine mammals has increased over the last decade, causing governments to take a more rigorous look at the potential impact of activities that introduce sound into the ocean. Environmental Impact Statements (EIS's) can be prepared using differing analysis methods to estimate the impact on marine mammals. To assess consistency in assessment methods, differences in the base assumptions were investigated; in particular, differences that arise between assumptions of dynamic marine mammals (animat method) and static distributions of marine mammals (static distribution method). Using several ocean environment scenarios and species, it is demonstrated that differences consistently arise between the two methods. The static distribution method underestimates the number of behavioral harassments compared with the animat method. Repeating many simulations with the animat method provides a robust risk assessment, provides a measure of variability, and allows the probability of "spurious events" to be estimated.     

台湾海峡中、北部海区1998年2～3月声速的分布特征

根据台湾海峡中、北部海区 1998年 2～ 3月实测的温、盐资料计算得出的声速 ,分析了该海区存在的几种主要类型的声速垂直分布状况以及声速垂直分布和平面分布的一些重要特征。     

Transport of plankton and particles between the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas during summer 2002, described using a Video Plankton Recorder

A key goal of the Western Arctic Shelf Basin Interactions program is to understand how physical and biological processes together impact shelf–basin exchange of biological, chemical, and physical properties. High-resolution vertical distributions of plankton and particles were obtained using an Auto Video Plankton Recorder from 29 locations on the Chukchi Shelf, in the deep Beaufort Sea, and across the Beaufort–Chukchi Shelf-break during a cruise on the USCGC Healy in July–August, 2002. Coincident velocity estimates were collected using hull-mounted acoustic Doppler current profilers. Images of plankton and particles were extracted automatically and identified manually to taxa and type. Copepods, diatom chains, decaying diatoms, marine snow, and radiolarians were the most abundant categories observed. Distinct regional differences in abundance were observed that were associated with different oceanographic regimes and with the prevailing circulation in the region. Vertical distributions were closely associated with the physical structure of the water column. A sharp horizontal discontinuity in abundance of all categories between shelf and basin was observed, located over the shelf break and potentially established and maintained by transport of plankton and particles along-shelf to the east rather than northwards towards the basin. Barrow Canyon and the shelf and shelf-break east of Barrow Canyon had very high concentrations of plankton and particles, especially marine snow, that may have resulted from elevated production on the eastern Chukchi Shelf that subsequently was advected out of Barrow Canyon and to the east. Comparisons of downward flux, estimated from particle sinking rates based on individual marine snow particle size, and horizontal velocities suggested that much of the marine snow carbon was sinking to the benthos of the Chukchi Sea prior to being advected off-shelf. Velocities and plankton concentrations together indicated that little off-shelf flux of plankton or particles to the basin was occurring except in an eddy located off of the Beaufort Shelf.     

A database for the study of marine mammal behavior: gap analysis, data standardization, and future directions

A relational database that contained published information on the diving behavior and/or movement patterns of marine mammals was compiled to facilitate a modeling effort of the Effects of Sound on the Marine Environment (ESME) program. A total of 448 references from reports, books, and peer-reviewed journal articles were obtained. The metadata describing each animal studied, location of the study, and equipment used were entered into the database as well as empirical data describing the diving behavior and movement patterns of each animal. In total, the database contained 1815 entries from 51 different marine mammal species or subspecies. The majority of animals were seals and sea lions with 1560 entries from 29 individual species. More than half the number of animals studied were from high latitude regions (e.g., Arctic and Antarctic). Other problem areas identified were: 1) Data reduction in summaries, 2) inability to easily summarize qualitative and quantitative data, and 3) lack of standardization in data reporting. A solution is to create a common access data archive where researchers contribute raw published or unpublished geospatially referenced data sets. This would improve access to original data sets with large volumes of data, which, overall, enhances the power to develop robust behavioral or ecological models that could help define critical habitats of marine mammals.     

A digital acoustic recording tag for measuring the response of wild marine mammals to sound

Definitive studies on the response of marine mammals to anthropogenic sound are hampered by the short surface time and deep-diving lifestyle of many species. A novel archival tag, called the DTAG, has been developed to monitor the behavior of marine mammals, and their response to sound, continuously throughout the dive cycle. The tag contains a large array of solid-state memory and records continuously from a built-in hydrophone and suite of sensors. The sensors sample the orientation of the animal in three dimensions with sufficient speed and resolution to capture individual fluke strokes. Audio and sensor recording is synchronous so the relative timing of sounds and motion can be determined precisely. The DTAG has been attached to more than 30 northern right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) and 20 sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) with recording duration of up to 12 h per deployment. Several deployments have included sound playbacks to the tagged whale and a transient response to at least one playback is evident in the tag data.     

我国周边海域典型海洋锋特征建模研究

基于海洋锋空间位置、水平分布结构和垂直扩展特征等时空特征参数,结合海洋锋空间结构几何模型,建立了区域海洋锋温盐三维结构快速重构特征模型,对黄海西部沿岸锋和东海黑潮中段锋锋区温度场进行了仿真计算,并与实测数据进行了比较分析,实验结果表明：仿真结果与实测数据符合较好,实验结果验证了特征模型的有效性和可推广性。海洋锋区声速具有明显的水平梯度变化,对声纳的水下探测和反探测产生显著影响,因此,需要建立实时估计获取锋区水下温、盐结构的方法。海洋锋特征模型能够快速有效地重构海洋锋区温度场,为实时获取海洋锋水下结构特征提供了方法。     

Performance bounds for acoustic tomography in a vertical ocean slice

Reciprocal travel-time data along acoustic multipaths between transceivers in the ocean sound channel can be inverted to form estimates of sound speed and horizontal current in the vertical plane of the transceiver pair. We investigate the quality of such estimates in a range-independent environment. Since most of the information gathered along an acoustic path is concentrated near its turning depths, inversions are characterized by strong sidelobe contamination. Estimates at depths in the upper ocean are contaminated by fields in the lower ocean and vice versa. Therefore estimates can be improved by use of a priori knowledge of contaminating fields at the position of the sidelobe. The Backus-Gilbert method is adapted to allow for use of a priori knowledge and three measures of system performance are defined, viz., resolution length, stochastic error, and ratio of sidelobe to primary lobe acceptance. Trade-off relations among these quantities are calculated for 17 eigenrays in a Munk canonical profile for various orders of a priori knowledge. The limit of perfect knowledge gives an absolute bound on system performance. Numerical examples indicate poor performance in the lower ocean; but good estimates of sound speed and acceptable estimates of horizontal current are feasible in the upper ocean.     

海底多金属硫化物自然电位观测方式研究

利用海洋自然电位法可以探测海底多金属硫化物矿体的位置和轮廓。在调查过程中,可以进行水平观测和垂直观测,本文对这两种观测方式的探测效果进行数值模拟分析,结果表明垂直观测异常大,对矿体的横向分辨率高。但在进行垂直观测时,电极离底低,工作风险大。所以在实际调查过程中,需要根据需求选择合适的观测方式。另外,在实际测量过程中,电极对会偏离垂直方向和水平方向,将导致异常结果发生变化,因此在数据资料处理与解释过程中要注意。本文可以为海底多金属硫化物自然电位调查提供参考。     

State-space models for bio-loggers: A methodological road map

Ecologists have an unprecedented array of bio-logging technologies available to conduct in situ studies of horizontal and vertical movement patterns of marine animals. These tracking data provide key information about foraging, migratory, and other behaviours that can be linked with bio-physical datasets to understand physiological and ecological influences on habitat selection. In most cases, however, the behavioural context is not directly observable and therefore, must be inferred. Animal movement data are complex in structure, entailing a need for stochastic analysis methods. The recent development of state-space modelling approaches for animal movement data provides statistical rigor for inferring hidden behavioural states, relating these states to bio-physical data, and ultimately for predicting the potential impacts of climate change. Despite the widespread utility, and current popularity, of state-space models for analysis of animal tracking data, these tools are not simple and require considerable care in their use. Here we develop a methodological “road map” for ecologists by reviewing currently available state-space implementations. We discuss appropriate use of state-space methods for location and/or behavioural state estimation from different tracking data types. Finally, we outline key areas where the methodology is advancing, and where it needs further development.     

Exact asymmetric slope distributions in stochastic Gauss–Lagrange ocean waves

The stochastic Lagrange wave model is a realistic alternative to the Gaussian linear wave model, which has been successfully used in ocean engineering for more than half a century. This paper presents exact slope distributions and other characteristic distributions at level crossings for symmetric and asymmetric Lagrange space and time waves. These distributions are given as expectations in a multivariate normal distribution, and they have to be evaluated by simulation or numerical integration. Interesting characteristic variables are: slopes obtained by asynchronous sampling in space or time, slopes in space or time, and horizontal particle velocity, when waves are observed when the water level crosses a predetermined level.     

A generalized coordinate ocean model and a comparison of the bottom boundary layer dynamics in terrain-following and in z-level grids

Sensitivity studies with a new generalized coordinate ocean model are performed in order to compare the behavior of bottom boundary layers (BBLs) when terrain-following (sigma or combined sigma and z-level) or z-level vertical grids are used, but most other numerical aspects remain unchanged. The model uses a second-order turbulence closure scheme that provides surface and BBL mixing and results in a quite realistic climatology and deep water masses after 100 year simulations with a coarse resolution (1° × 1°) basin-scale terrain-following grid. However, with the same turbulence scheme but using a z-level grid, the model was unable to produce dense water masses in the deep ocean. The latter is a known problem for coarse resolution z-level models, unless they include highly empirical BBL schemes.A set of dense water overflow experiments with high-resolution grids (10 and 2.5 km) are used to investigate the influence of model parameters such as horizontal diffusivity, vertical mixing, horizontal resolution, and vertical resolution on the simulation of bottom layers for the different coordinate systems. Increasing horizontal diffusivity causes a thinner BBL and a bottom plume that extends further downslope in a sigma grid, but causes a thicker BBL and limited downslope plume extension in a z-level grid. A major difference in the behavior of the BBL in the two grids is due to the larger vertical mixing generated by the turbulence scheme over the step-like topography in the z-level grid, compared to a smaller vertical mixing and a more stably stratified BBL in the sigma grid. Therefore, the dense plume is able to maintain its water mass better and penetrates farther downslope in the sigma grid than in the z-level grid. Increasing horizontal and vertical resolution in the z-level grid converges the results toward those obtained by a much coarser resolution sigma coordinate grid, but some differences remain due to the basic differences in the mixing process in the BBL.     

Role of Vertical Resolution in Numerical Models Towards the Intensification,Structure and Track of Tropical Cyclones

The impact of vertical resolution on the evolution and movement of tropical cyclones was studied using NCAR MM5 model with a horizontal resolution of 9 km. Four numerical experiments were performed with different vertical resolutions, that is, with 23 vertical levels as control experiment, and 36 vertical levels with high resolution in the lower troposphere, 33 vertical levels with high resolution in the upper troposphere and 46 vertical levels with increased vertical resolution throughout the troposphere as relative to base experiment. The results indicate that increased vertical resolution in the lower troposphere produces efficient intensification and better structure in terms of eye and eyewall. Increased vertical resolution at lower levels improves the prediction of vertical shear of horizontal wind. Experiments with high resolution in the lower troposphere and high resolution throughout the troposphere simulate better track up to 72 hours.     

Vertical Variations of Core Sound Velocity: Evidence of Paleooceanographic History Since the Pleistocene Epoch

The vertical variations in the borehole core sound velocity (Cp) of the submarine sediments are related to the events of marine transgression and regression in the geologic history. This article establishes the vertical variation of Cp curve for the borehole sound velocity in the northern South China Sea continental shelf and the East China Sea continental shelf, thus providing evidence for revealing at least (3) sedimentary cycle events of marine transgression and regression occurring in the west Pacific marginal sea since the Pleistocene Epoch. The sound velocity of marine sediments brought in the course of marine transgression is lower (1450-1510 m/s) while that of continental sediments formed in the course of marine regression is higher (1650-1720 m/s).     

海洋动物行为控制技术分析及应用

以海豚、海狮、鲸等为代表的海洋动物具有发达的大脑,具备天生的潜水和超声波定位等卓越本领。利用海洋动物的这些特性及通过训练养成的反射动作,可以完成人类或水下航行器无法完成或难以完成的任务。海洋动物行为控制技术则是实现.上述功能的关键。通过对国外海洋动物部队及海洋动物行为控制技术的研究,从运动行为、条件反射和神经类型等方面分析了海洋动物行为控制技术的基本机理。在此基础上,分析了操作性条件反射和人工电刺激等两种主要的行为控制方法,提出了海洋动物行为控制技术的未来可能应用方向。研究表明,以正强化为主导的操作性条件反射方法在各国海洋动物控制实践中占据主要地位,而人工电刺激方法的研究则稍显迟滞且成功的应用实例较少。可以预见,海洋动物行为控制技术在未来的海洋争夺中必将发挥越来越重要的作用。     

胶州湾流速场的声层析反演研究

采用结合匹配法和经验正交函数法的射线声层析反演方法,针对流场水平分布不均匀特点,使用距离等效分段方法对反演算法进行改进,利用三个断面声层析数据,对胶州湾口潮流场的垂直和水平分布进行反演。与传统方法比较,大大降低与实测流速垂直分布间的偏差,平均偏差小于0.02 m/s,流场垂直分布间的相关系数提高到0.85以上。分析了声传播断面上不同的流场结构,以及涨潮期间在胶州湾团岛附近出现的涡流现象,并计算得到湾口海水流量变化。结果表明,改进的射线声层析反演方法可有效地用于水平分布不均匀流场监测,仅采用少量声学观测站位,即可获得大范围的复杂流场三维信息,有利于近海海洋资源开发、海洋环境保护和船舶航行安全。     

Real Time Analysis and Display of Scanning Lidar Scattering Data

We describe software for an IBM compatible personal computer (PC) that we have developed and used to collect and analyze backscatter data from a multi-wavelength Mie-Rayleigh scanning lidar system. Both one and two-dimensional distributions of optical scattering coefficients are calculated from the lidar return signals and displayed in real time. Although we are using the software for analyzing marine aerosols, the modular nature of the software and data acquisition drivers make it straightforward to adapt the software to different systems, such as differential absorption lidar (DIAL) and oceanic lidars. We show examples of both horizontal and vertical Mie-Rayleigh lidar scans collected at the Makai Pier and Bellows Beach on the northeast side of the island of Oahu.     

Larval dispersal and vertical migration behaviour – a simulation study for short dispersal times

Current speed often varies with depth, so vertical movements of larvae are expected to have profound effects on dispersal velocity and therefore dispersal potential. Systematic behaviours are expected to have strong effects on dispersal. However, reliable information on the presence of vertical migrations in larvae is scarce, but the few well investigated empirical examples justify a detailed simulation study and an analysis of potential effects. We present a spatially explicit 3D hydrodynamic model that incorporates biological information in the form of active particles advected in a Lagrangian fashion. The set‐up is designed to analyze the sensitivity of dispersal distances to variation in vertical behaviour of larvae. We simulated short (4 days) pelagic larval durations (PLDs) to determine whether behaviour might be important over short dispersal periods. We found that sinusoidal behaviours (slow vertical migration) in or out of phase with tides did not significantly change the dispersal patterns compared to those of larvae that remained at the surface. By contrast, a quadratic pattern of behaviour resulting in rapid vertical migration, in or out of phase with tides, had dramatic effects on both distance and direction of dispersal. The resulting dispersal kernels were found to be multimodal due to the interaction between tidal and meteorological components in flow. Incorporating biological information on larval migrations in Lagrangian simulation of dispersal will be important in estimates of connectivity and forecasting marine reserve networks.     

岩心声速垂向变化对古海水进退的指示意义

钻孔岩心声速Cp垂向变化与地质历史中的海进、海退事件有关;南海北部大陆架及东海大陆架的钻孔岩心声速垂向变化曲线,为揭示西太平洋边缘海在更新世以来至少发生过3次海进和3次海退的3次沉积旋回事件提供了佐证。海进时所带来的海相沉积物的声速较低(1450—1510m·s-1),海退时所形成的陆相沉积物的声速较高(1650—1720m·s-1)。     

涉海工程水下冲击打桩噪声测量方法研究

随着海洋、湖泊、河流和港口等人类活动逐渐增加,涉海工程产生的水下噪声污染及对海洋生物影响已引起广泛关注。工程建设期环境影响评价中,水下噪声测量逐渐成为海洋监管的要素。水下冲击打桩是工程建设中常见的低频水下脉冲声源,能够传播较远距离。如何规范地开展水下冲击打桩噪声测量至关重要。文章给出了水下冲击打桩噪声的通用测量方法,包括声学指标、测量系统、测量布放、声学测量配置、测量不确定性等,可为海洋工程建设影响评价、海洋生物生态保护等提供技术支撑。