This documentation describes best practices for data management of ocean passive acoustic data.
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Background

Passive acoustics is a rapidly emerging field of marine biology that since recently has received a lot of attention from fisheries scientists and managers. Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) can serve as a useful monitoring tool that complements traditional survey methodologies (aerial, visual, trawl, etc.).

Many biologists that are interested in documenting marine animals and fish habitat and following their movements and behavior have used acoustic tags. However, because marine mammals and many fish species are highly adapted for producing and perceiving sounds in the ocean, these low-frequency (<10 kHz), species-specific sounds can be used as natural acoustic tags, and passive acoustic approach (monitoring sound-producing fish species with hydrophones) show great promise for gathering data in a noninvasive and continuous manner.

Passive acoustic methods include the use of low-frequency hydrophones, digital recorders, autonomous recording sonobuoys and data loggers, and towed hydrophone arrays to record fish sounds. These monitoring and recording devices can continuously gather data in conditions that would otherwise limit survey effort. The data gathered from these units provides scientists with information on the acoustic presence of a species of interest with known species specific signals.

In the light of increasing activities around passive acoustic monitoring and mounting demands to incorporating PAM data into habitat modeling and marine spatial planning, the U.S. IOOS, among other goals, aim to improve interoperability of PAM data among various data centers by means of enhanced and standardized acoustic data management practices.

This page details some of the available resources that U.S. IOOS recognizes as guidelines for current best practices with respect to passive acoustic monitoring.

Resources

Tags: getting_started