A computer model for simulation of undersea noise from marine mammals

A computer model for the simulation of the spatial and temporal distribution of acoustic signals generated by marine mammals is presented. The model incorporates information from existing references on the geographic distribution of marine mammal species. Spatial distributions of individuals of each species that may be present at a site are generated using a random point process model that incorporates a statistical representation of the spatial clustering characteristics of each species. Individual vocalizations for each species are simulated by randomly selecting sampled acoustic source signatures from either the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s SOUND database or from the NRL Dual Use Acoustics Center (DUAC) database. The acoustic source signatures are generated in random time patterns that emulate known vocalization repetition characteristics for each species. Sound propagation effects are incorporated by generating acoustic transfer functions using propagation models appropriate to the frequency band of each acoustic signature. The potential use of the model in the validation of marine mammal acoustic survey techniques is discussed. [Work supported by ONR.]