Criteria and Thresholds for U.S. Navy Acoustic and Explosive Effects Analysis

Abstract

The U.S. Navy is required to assess the potential impacts to marine species from training and testing activities to remain in compliance with a suite of Federal environmental laws and regulations including, but not limited to, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. In cases where these activities introduce high-levels of sound or explosive energy into the marine environment, an effects analysis must be conducted. The acoustic effects analysis begins with mathematical modeling to predict the sound transmission patterns from Navy sources. These data are then coupled with marine species distribution and abundance data to determine the sound levels likely to be received by various marine species. Finally, criteria and thresholds are applied to estimate the specific effects that animals exposed to Navy-generated sound may experience.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2012
Accession Number
ADA561707

Entities

People

  • A. K. Jenkins
  • J. J. Finneran

Organizations

  • Naval Information Warfare Systems Command

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Measurement
  • Acoustic Properties
  • Acoustics
  • Ear
  • Electrophysiological Phenomena
  • Environment
  • Explosives
  • Fish
  • Fur
  • Habitats
  • Hearing Loss
  • Marine Mammals
  • Naval Warfare
  • Odontocetes
  • Uss Shoup
  • Whales
  • Wildlife

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Government and Public Administration Law.
  • Marine Mammal Biology