UNDERWATER ACOUSTICS SURVEYING
SUCCESSFUL DEPLOYMENT The project saw a successful deployment of the Kongsberg Passive Acoustic Monitoring System (K-PAMS) to measure underwater noise levels within the location, using North Sea System’s DataFish® buoy. K-PAMS recorded underwater noise continuously over a 4-day period. The data consisted of underwater noise levels in the absence of any recognisable noise source as well as noise from passing vessels.
DATA COLLECTION
Following collection of the data, engineers correlated AIS vessel movements with specific noise events in the data record. The DataFish® buoy provides an ideal platform for such a survey, not only for powering the instruments, but also for transmitting the data in near real time.
The Datafish® tidal survey device, manufactured by North Sea Systems
MONITORING POTENTIAL ACOUSTIC IMPACT Establishing baseline underwater noise levels in this way will enable renewables developers to monitor any potential acoustic impact of marine turbines and vessel movements on marine life especially dolphins, porpoises and seals. This work will continue to support renewables project consenting on the Isle of Wight Nursery site.
Peter Ward, Kongsberg
Maritime Product Manager for K-PAMS, said the fact that DataFish® could be used for acoustic monitoring over extended periods of three-to-six months, allowed K-PAMS to be deployed in a wide variety of applications such as acoustic data gathering for marine energy environmental impact assessments; shipping noise surveys; and during construction projects where impact piling or explosive noise can be problematic.
CURRENT DEPLOYMENT Kongsberg currently have K-PAMS deployed at an offshore wind farm development in the North Sea close to the Dutch-German maritime boundary. The K-PAMS functionality allows the operators to monitor impact noise levels in real time using a simple traffic light system where ‘green’ means that noise levels
SAFELY AND ACCURATELY DEPLOYED, RECOVERED AND RELIABLY OPERATED
“Lost equipment, failed deployments and poor quality data in highly energetic environments have plagued tidal turbine and wave energy developers in the marine energy industry in recent times. In bringing together K-PAMS and DataFish® we have created a system that can be safely and accurately deployed, recovered and reliably operated.” Peter concluded.
Kongsberg Maritime
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are OK, ‘amber’ means that thresholds are close to being met and ‘red’ indicates that noise thresholds have been exceeded and that mitigation procedures should be implemented.
NURSERY SITE PROJECT DETAIL During the Nursery site project, the K-PAMS hydrophone was installed between the Datafish® buoy and its mooring and measured acoustic activity, feeding back instantly to the data collection point. This has allowed the Kongsberg Maritime engineers to start building a picture of marine activity, so the effect on future tidal site development can be monitored, and the potential impact on the marine environment can be determined.
FASTEST-GROWING SERVICES PORTFOLIO Peter commented: “The renewables sector is one of the fastest-growing areas of Kongsberg Maritime’s services portfolio, and we are pleased to have been able to work in partnership with North Sea Systems in this project. I am certain that the data collected during the deployment will be critical to the future development of this key tidal energy site.
www.wavetidalenergynetwork.co.uk
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