A perspective on 30 years of progress in ambient noise: Source mechanisms and the characteristics of the sound field

The last 30 years has seen substantial progress in ocean ambient noise research, particularly in understanding the mechanisms of sound generation by the sources of ambient noise, the way in which the noise field is affected by sound propagation, and improvements in quantifying the relationship between noise and environmental parameters. This has led to significant improvements in noise prediction. Activity was probably strongest in the 1980s and 1990s, as evident, for example, in the Sea Surface Sound conferences and their published proceedings (four over 10 years). Although much of the application has been to sonar, there has also been interest in using ambient noise to measure properties of the environment and in its significance to marine life. There have been significant changes in the ambient noise itself over the last 30 years. The contribution from human activities appears to have increased, particularly that due to increases in shipping numbers. Biological noise has also increased with the significant increases in populations of some whale species following the cessation of broad scale whaling in the 1960s and early 1970s. Concern about the effects of noise on marine animals as well as the way they exploit the noise has led to renewed interest in ambient noise.