Public Reports & Articles
Hywind Tampen Floating Offshore Wind Farm: Sound Source Characterisation of Operational Floating Turbines
February 2025 - United Kingdom
Client: Equinor Energy AS
JASCO Applied Sciences undertook a sound source characterisation study of the Hywind Tampen floating offshore wind farm, approximately 140 km northwest of Bergen, Norway. Four recording instruments were deployed from the DOF Skandi Iceman to the seabed by remotely operated vehicle in February 2024 at various positions both within and around the wind farm site. Two instruments were set up in a single-hydrophone omnidirectional configuration and two with arrays of four hydrophones to provide directional noise discrimination. Three of the four recorders (one directional system and the two omnidirectional systems) were retrieved in June 2024. The remaining directional recording system remains in situ on a 12-month recording schedule and is expected to be retrieved in early 2025. Recording was conducted at a 64 kHz sample rate with 24-bit resolution, and the total volume of data collected from the first three stations was 7.3 TB. Analysis of the recorded data was undertaken to determine the characteristics of the sound produced by the turbines at Hywind Tampen and compare this to similar sound source characterisation study of the Hywind Scotland floating system. The dominant sound emissions from the Hywind Tampen turbines are narrowband tones, principally below 200 Hz, with two notable tones at around 25 and 75 Hz being the primary contributors to the recorded sound spectra. The sources of these tones are directly related to the rotational rate of the rotor and the number of magnetic pole pairs in the generator, one directly and the other by a factor of three. Consequently, the actual frequencies generated by the rotating components of each turbine depend on the rotor RPM at any given time, where the strong tones at around 25 and 75 Hz are the frequency limits of the rotor related tones associated with the system maximum RPM. Other tones which were variously stable and unstable, continuous and intermittent were found to contribute to the spectra to a lesser extent.
Underwater Radiated Noise Rating of Ships
February 2025 — Canada
Client: Transport Canada
This technical memo presents a method for rating ships according to measurements of their underwater radiated noise (URN). The overall goal is to assign URN grades to ships. The rating method is intended to be applied by agencies and organizations responsible for managing underwater ship noise. Noise criteria are defined for four URN grades (A to D), and methods for accurately measuring ship radiated noise levels and evaluating measurements against grading criteria are provided here. The grade limits and measurement methods can also be useful for ship classification societies for defining their own quiet ship notations.
The recommendations are based on research on ship underwater noise characterization projects that has been supported by Transport Canada and the Port of Vancouver’s Enhancing Cetacean and Habitat Observation (ECHO) Program, and from research performed by many organizations worldwide to develop international standards for ship noise measurement.
Regional 2022 Ocean Noise Contributors in Southern Resident Killer Whale Habitat
November 2024 — Canada
Client: Transport Canada
This study uses an advanced soundscape model to investigate how different marine sectors contributed to underwater noise in Southern Resident killer whale (SRKW) habitat during 2022. Key outputs of the model are maps of sound pressure level (SPL) generated by various vessel types and wind-driven ambient noise for the Salish Sea and Swiftsure Bank. Key inputs to the model include ship tracking data from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) and an extensive database of high-quality measurements of vessel underwater radiated noise. Soundscape maps are broken down into 15 vessel categories and 9 geographic sub-regions to calculate the contributions of different marine transportation sectors to the underwater sound energy budget. The soundscape model is also used to calculate natural ambient noise originating from wind and rain. The difference between ship-generated SPL and natural ambient SPL is used to assess how shipping activity contributes to acoustic masking within sensitive habitat areas.
NAVISON Final Report: Calculation and Analysis of Shipping Sound Maps for All European Seas From 2016 to 2050
October 2024 — Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Northeast Atlantic Ocean, North Sea
Client: European Maritime Safety Agency
October 2024 — Baltic Sea, Black, Sea, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Northeast Atlantic Ocean
Client: European Maritime Safety Agency
The NAVIs SONus (NAVISON) report is the first pan-European report to provide historical and future forecast underwater noise data for all European seas. Underwater noise from ships is recognised as a stress factor for marine life, particularly for cetaceans like whales and dolphins, who use sound to communicate with each other. It can harm marine biodiversity and cause behavioural changes in animals. Using a single methodology, NAVISON maps underwater noise levels in all European seas for the first time, providing a comprehensive, pan-European overview, and allowing quantitative like-for-like comparisons of shipping contributions to ambient sound between regions, vessel categories, years, and forecast scenarios.
SATURN D2.4 Standardized methods to facilitate impact assessment and cost-effective URN measurement
August 2024- Europe
Client: European Commission
In any innovation programme, consolidation is needed after successful innovation steps to provide a firm platform for further innovation. Thus, consolidation through standardisation is an integral part of the innovation cycle.
This document (D2.4) summarises the work of SATURN Work Package 2 (WP2) ‘Standardized methods to facilitate impact assessment and cost-effective URN measurement’. The purposes of WP2 are to develop and validate standardised methods to cost-effectively measure vessel underwater radiated noise (URN) and to facilitate the assessment of impacts from underwater noise generated by shipping and boats. These purposes are achieved by harmonising terminology, metrics, and methodology for measurements and modelling, including particle motion.
SATURN Deliverable D2.2: Guidelines for Sound Particle Motion Mapping
July 2024 — Canada
Client: European Commission
Models for mapping sound pressure metrics over the environment in which animals are exposed to underwater radiated noise from ships have been developed in previous projects and applied in European ambient sound monitoring projects such as BIAS, JOMOPANS and JONAS. However, these maps represent metrics based on sound pressure within set frequency ranges. The capability to produce maps of metrics based on sound particle motion, to which many fish and invertebrate species are sensitive, still needed to be developed. This deliverable from Task 2.3 ‘Sound Particle Motion Modelling and Mapping’ of the EU-funded research project SATURN (Developing solutions to underwater radiated noise) describes the results of the development of the capability to produce sound particle motion maps. It describes the relevant sound particle motion metrics and how these relate, describes models that can be used for producing sound particle motion maps, describes how these models can be verified and validated and provides some examples of calculated particle motion sound maps. The final chapter of this report summarizes guidelines for sound particle motion mapping.
SATURN Deliverable 2.3: SATURN Acoustical Terminology Standard
June 2024 — Canada
Client: European Commission
This document is produced by Work Package 2 (WP2) ‘Standardisation’. The purposes of WP2 are to develop and validate standardised methods to cost-effectively measure underwater radiated noise (URN) and to facilitate the assessment of impacts from underwater noise generated by shipping and boats. These purposes are achieved by harmonising terminology, metrics, and methodology for measurements and modelling, including particle motion.
Recommended Procedures for Measuring Underwater Radiated Noise Emissions of Ships
September 2023 — Canada
Client: Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and Transport Canada
JASCO has provided technical expertise to a collaborative project aimed at developing guidance for ship certification societies wishing to issue quiet ship notations. The guidance document was developed through a series of workshops attended by representatives from the following Classification Societies: American Bureau of Shipping, Bureau Veritas, China Classification Society, DNV, Korean Register, Lloyd’s Register, Registro Italiano Navale. Also in attendance were members of the International Association of Classification Societies and the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO). The expertise and contributions of these representatives and members were instrumental for defining practical, consistent, and technically-sound methods for measuring and reporting underwater radiated noise from ships, suitable for assessing quiet notations.
An accompanying spreadsheet provides quartile levels of ship RNL measurements from VFPA’s ECHO Program database for several ship categories, that can be used to establish reasonable noise limits. The spreadsheet includes scaling parameters to account for different values of vessel speed through water.
Acoustic Footprint of Bottom Trawling in the Adriatic Sea
September 2023 — Albania
Client: General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean
JASCO Applied Sciences (Deutschland) GmbH collaborated with the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean to perform a Sound Source Characterisation (SSC) study of representative fishing activity in the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Durrës, Albania. The study was funded by Global Environmental Facility and took place in August 2023; it consisted of recording underwater sound radiated by a bottom trawler vessel before and during typical fishing operations. The aim of the measurements was to increase the scarce publicly available data on sound emissions from fishing vessels, and to enable more accurate modelling of noise impacts from fishing activities involving single or multiple boats near ecologically sensitive locations. To that end, from the analysis of the recorded data, the spectral source level of the vessel was to be computed so it could be used to improve the realism and accuracy of future modelling. In 2021 JASCO had performed such a numerical modelling study of fishing operations in the Adriatic at the Pomo/Jabuka Pit Fisheries Restricted Area, which had evidenced the scarcity of available sound levels data for fishing vessels engaged in their work.
Browse to North West Shelf Project—Vessel Noise
July 2022 — Western Australia
Client: Woodside Energy
• Acoustic Modelling Phase 2 Report
In support of Woodside’s Supplement Report to the Draft Environment Impact Statement, JASCO performed two modelling studies of underwater noise related to Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) and Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) operations to determine ranges to acoustic exposure thresholds for marine mammals, turtles, and fish. The third study employed animal movement (animat) modelling simulations to predict the range at which pygmy blue whales could be expected to be exposed above threshold criteria for permanent threshold shift (PTS), temporary threshold shift (TTS) and behavioural response.
Towards a Standard for Vessel URN Measurement in Shallow Water
2021-2022 — Canada
Client: Transport Canada Innovation Centre
2022: Final Report on Transport Canada Innovation Centre Project MMP2
Measuring vessel source levels (SL) in a repeatable way is more difficult in shallow than in deep water. This field experiment evaluates several methods and confirms that obtaining repeatable vessel SL estimates in shallow water is possible and that the methods required are only moderately more complex than those codified for deep water.
A white paper that informed the experimental design for the 2022 report.
Doing Business on Mighty Waters - Uncrewed
May 2022
In: ECO Magazine, Marine Mammals special issue
“JASCO Applied Sciences and Open Ocean Robotics are changing how we go down to the sea. … The combination of marine robots and intelligent underwater acoustic systems to protect ocean fauna is only in its infancy, yet it shows considerable promise to mitigate impact, reduce monitoring costs and keep humans out of harm’s way. OOR and JASCO are helping transform science-fiction into reality and are helping define the way marine mammal monitoring will be done in the future.”
Contributed by JASCO’s John Moloney and Open Ocean Robotics’ Julie Angus
Underwater Acoustic Modeling of Detonations of Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) for Orsted Wind Farm Construction, US East Coast
May 2022 — East Coast, United States
Client: Ørsted
Modelling of acoustic sources and sound propagation to estimate Level-A and Level-B take zones for expected UXO types that may be encountered along export cable routes during wind farm construction. This assessment considers acoustic effects to marine mammals, sea turtles, and fish from five possible charge sizes at sites with four water depths near Ørsted’s Revolution Wind project areas. The results are also relevant for sites with similar water depths at Ørsted’s Ocean Wind 1 project, Ørsted’s Sunrise Wind project, and possibly other wind farm sites with similar properties.
Sunrise Wind Farm Project: Underwater Noise and Exposure Modelling
April 2022 — Outer Continental Shelf, United States
Client: Sunrise Wind LLC (Ørsted and Eversource)
April 2022 — Outer Continental Shelf, United States
Client: Sunrise Wind LLC (Ørsted and Eversource)
JASCO modelled the potential underwater acoustic impacts resulting from pile driving for installing tapered monopiles, pin piles for jacket foundations, casing pipes, and goal post sheet piles for the construction of the 924 MW Sunrise Wind Farm and associated Export Cable. This underwater noise assessment estimates the number of marine mammals and sea turtles that may experience sound levels that exceed regulatory thresholds and calculates exposure ranges. For fish, ranges to regulatory sound thresholds for injury and behavioral disturbance were calculated.
Hywind Scotland Floating Offshore Wind Farm: Sound Source Characterisation of Operational Floating Turbines
March 2022 — Scotland
Client: Equinor Energy AS
Sound measurements and analysis for the world’s first floating offshore wind farm. Located in the North Sea off the east coast of Scotland, Hywind Scotland comprises five floating wind turbines, each sitting atop a spar buoy that is moored to the seabed. JASCO measured the underwater sound from one turbine for three months using a four-hydrophone tetrahedral array to allow bearing discrimination between sounds from different directions. The sound signature of the turbine was fully characterized, consisting mainly of low-frequency tonal noise associated with rotating rotor and generator components. In addition, the sources of more broadband transient mooring noises were localized.
Viva Energy Gas Terminal Project EES Technical Report A2
March 2022 — Southeast Australia
Client: AECOM
Appendix A-1 – Baseline Monitoring of Ambient Underwater Noise Environment
Appendix A-2 – Underwater Noise Modelling
Appendix A-3 – Underwater Noise Impact Assessment
Three underwater noise studies that form part of the Environment Effects Statement for the Viva Energy Gas Terminal Project in southeastern Australia. The project will develop a gas terminal using a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) moored at Refinery Pier in Corio Bay, Geelong to facilitate supply of a new source of gas for the south-east Australian gas market where there is a projected supply shortfall in coming years.
Evaluation of ECHO Vessel Noise Correlation Models with a Novel Dataset Collected in the Santa Barbara Channel
January 2022 — California, United States
Client: Vancouver Fraser Port Authority ECHO Program
January 2022 — California, United States
Client: Vancouver Fraser Port Authority ECHO Program
An assessment of the predictive fit of the vessel noise functional regression model developed by JASCO and ERM on an independent database of vessel noise levels measured in the Santa Barbara Channel. The regression model was developed using the ECHO source level database, which comprises thousands of vessel transits recorded in Haro Strait, Strait of Georgia, and Boundary Pass. The models were able to predict monopole source levels well on the vessel category level.
A collaboration with Scripps Machine Listening Lab and ERM Consultants Canada Ltd.
SIMRES Acoustic Data Hydroacoustic Measurements: Marine Mammal Detections from February to December 2020 off Monarch Head and East Point, Saturna Island, BC
December 2021 — British Columbia, Canada
Client: Transport Canada Innovation Centre
An analysis of 10 months of underwater sound recordings obtained by the Saturna Island Marine Research and Education Society at two locations in Boundary Pass. JASCO’s automated marine mammal detectors for killer whales, humpback whales, and Pacific white-sided dolphins were applied to the data. This study contributes important information on the occurrence of several species in the Boundary Pass for ongoing research required to investigate factors driving the distributions of marine mammals, specifically Southern Resident killer whales.
SIMRES Ambient Noise: Observed Differences in the Underwater Noise Soundscape Before and After Implementing the 2019 and 2020 Saturna Island Interim Sanctuary Zones
December 2021 — British Columbia, Canada
Client: Transport Canada Innovation Centre
An analysis of underwater ambient noise levels from recordings previously collected at two locations in Boundary Pass over a three-year period to compare differences in the underwater soundscape before and after implementing the 2019 and 2020 Saturna Island Interim Sanctuary Zones. Vessel traffic was prohibited within the Zones to reduce acoustic and physical disturbance from vessels in Southern Resident killer whale foraging areas.
Salish Sea Ambient Noise Study: Best Practices (2021)
2021 — British Columbia, Canada
Client: Port of Vancouver
Utilizing two years of data from three different, cabled inshore hydrophone stations in the Salish Sea, this high-level review, led by Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, aims to help understand and address key environmental and anthropogenic factors that contribute to ambient noise. Contributions from: the hydrophone system and ancillary equipment; rain, wind and tidal currents; factors affecting sound propagation; biological presence; and vessel traffic are considered in this study, and “best practice” recommendations for undertaking standardized long-term noise assessment are provided.