Passive acoustic localization and tracking using synthetic data for the Northern Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

Passive acoustic localization and tracking of marine mammals shows potential for future acoustic monitoring efforts. The Littoral Acoustic Demonstration Center—Gulf Ecological Monitoring and Modeling (LADC-GEMM) project collected underwater acoustic data in the northern Gulf of Mexico during the summer of 2015 using Environmental Acoustic Recording Systems (EARS) buoys, returning to sites previously surveyed by LADC. The localization and tracking method developed for the EARS hydrophones uses Monte-Carlo based simulations based on this data. Synthetic whale clicks at random times along a sinusoidal path were propagated to the EARS receivers and the location of the synthetic source was tracked. Several whale clicks in a series determine the most probable path of the animal. The localization/tracking method and relative localization are adaptable for variables such as site location, mooring locations, number of moorings, depth, etc. Localization of two synthetic moving whales in three-dimensional space will be demonstrated. [This research was made possible by a grant from The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative. Data are publicly available through the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information & Data Cooperative (GRIIDC) at https://data.gulfresearchinitiative.org.]