Measurements and Spatial Distribution Simulation of Impact Pile Driving Underwater Noise Generated During the Construction of Offshore Wind Power Plant Off the Southwest Coast of Korea

Dong-Gyun Han,Jee Woong Choi

doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.654991

Dong-Gyun Han, Jee Woong Choi

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.654991

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Abstract

Offshore wind power plants are under construction worldwide, and concerns about the adverse effects of underwater noise generated during their construction on the marine environment are increasing. As part of an environmental impact assessment, underwater noise generated by impact pile driving was measured during the construction of an offshore wind farm off the southwest coast of Korea. The sound exposure levels of impact pile driving noise were estimated as a function of distance and compared with those predicted by a damped cylindrical spreading model and broadband parabolic equation simulation. Source level at 1 m was estimated to be in a range of 183–184 dB re 1μPa2s in the sound exposure level based on the model predictions and it tended to decrease by 21log⁡r as the distance increased. Finally, the spatial distribution of impact pile driving noise was predicted. This result, if combined with noise-induced damage thresholds for marine life, may be used to assess the effects of wind farm construction on marine ecosystems.

Highlights

As global interest in renewable energy has increased, technologies to exploit wind energy are actively being developed
Because the measurements of impact pile driving noise at the distance satisfying this condition were not made during the construction of turbine 6, the measurements of the time-resolved the first-phase waveform were conducted in April 2018
Impact pile driving noise was measured as a function of distance on the southwest coast of Korea

Summary

INTRODUCTION

As global interest in renewable energy has increased, technologies to exploit wind energy are actively being developed. Zampolli et al (2013) proposed a simpler alternative, the damped cylindrical spreading model (DCSM), which can predict depth-averaged noise levels as a function of distance Measurements of underwater noise, including impact piling driving noise, were made in September 2017 at the construction site for an offshore wind farm at 35.49◦N, 126.33◦E, which is approximately 10 km from the Gusipo Port on the southwest coast of Korea, and additional sub-experiment was conducted the same site in April 2018 (Figure 1A). A time duration of 1 s was used in the ESD analysis, making the ESD of impact pile driving noise directly comparable to the PSD of ambient noise

RESULTS

SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT