Passive acoustic monitoring using a towed line array of hydrophones is a standard method for localizing cetaceans during line-transect cetacean abundance surveys. Perpendicular distances estimated between localized whales and the trackline are essential for abundance estimation using acoustic data. Uncertainties in the acoustic data from hydrophone movement, sound propagation effects, errors in the time of arrival differences, and whale depth are not accounted for by most two-dimensional localization methods. Consequently, location and distance estimates for deep-diving cetaceans may be biased, creating uncertainty in abundance estimates. Here, a model-based localization approach is applied to towed line array acoustic data that incorporates sound propagation effects, accounts for sources of error, and localizes in three dimensions. The whale's true distance, ship trajectory, and whale movement greatly affected localization results in simulations. The localization method was applied to real acoustic data from two separate sperm whales, resulting in three-dimensional distance and depth estimates with position bounds for each whale. By incorporating sources of error, this three-dimensional model-based approach provides a method to address and integrate the inherent uncertainties in towed array acoustic data for more robust localization.
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August 2021
August 12 2021
Model-based localization of deep-diving cetaceans using towed line array acoustic data
Yvonne M. Barkley
;
Yvonne M. Barkley
a)
1
Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
, Kāne‘ohe, Hawaii 96822, USA
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Eva-Marie Nosal;
Eva-Marie Nosal
2
Ocean Resources and Engineering, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
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Erin M. Oleson
Erin M. Oleson
3
Protected Species Division, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
, Honolulu, Hawaii 96818, USA
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a)
Electronic mail: ybarkley@hawaii.edu, ORCID: 0000-0003-4251-474X.
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 150, 1120–1132 (2021)
Article history
Received:
January 29 2021
Accepted:
July 19 2021
Citation
Yvonne M. Barkley, Eva-Marie Nosal, Erin M. Oleson; Model-based localization of deep-diving cetaceans using towed line array acoustic data. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1 August 2021; 150 (2): 1120–1132. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0005847
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