Acoustically-equipped Gliders for Marine Mammal Oceanography Research
Abstract
To comply with US law the Navy must conduct its operations so as to minimize and mitigate harm to marine mammals. The Navy consequently observes and studies marine mammals and other marine animals, both to better understand their occurrence and behavior and also to lessen the deleterious effects of its operations on these animals. We propose to purchase two gliders for passive-acoustic marine mammal observation and research. We have been successfully developing, testing, and using acoustically equipped gliders since 2008. In 2013 we were awarded a DURIP grant to purchase two acoustically-equipped Seagliders for use in passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) of marine mammals. These gliders have subsequently been successfully deployed many times now for ONR-sponsored projects as well as other Navy-relevant research, and we propose to purchase two additional acoustically equipped gliders for enhancing our capabilities. Enhancement will come in several areas: (1) marine mammal acoustic research and monitoring from gliders, for which these new gliders will allow us to operate glider missions more often and accelerate the research cycle; (2) marine mammal density estimation research, for which these new gliders will allow us to investigate networks of gliders deployed for investigating detectability as a function of range (detection functions), and three-dimensional localization of marine mammals to better develop glider-specific density estimation methods; (3) detection, classification, and localization (DCL) research, for which these new gliders will allow collection of much more data, create a faster cycle time for developing DCL algorithms, and develop better glider-specific DCL methods; (4) acoustic propagation research, for which these new gliders will allow us to collect environmental data key to measuring sound speed (temperature, salinity) simultaneously with collection of acoustic data to measure propagation, and collect such data repeatedly over an extensive geographic area; (5) ocean noise research; (6) ecosystem process research, for which these new gliders will allow us to observe high-trophic-level marine mammals in conjunction with other parameters, and enable collaboration with researchers studying other physical and biological processes; and (7) research and monitoring on Navy ranges.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 29, 2020
- Source ID
- N000142012209
Entities
People
- David Mellinger
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- Oregon State University
- United States Navy