Visualizing how anthropogenic noise affects the Good Environmental Status of the North Sea

Abstract

The Joint Monitoring Programme for Ambient Noise North Sea (JOMOPANS) aimed to develop a framework for managers, planners and other stakeholders to incorporate the effects of ambient noise in their Good Environmental Status (GES) assessment of the North Sea. This was accomplished by generating spatial maps of the anthropogenic and natural soundscapes, modelled from ambient noise measurements collected around the North Sea by the different member states in 2018 and 2019. We focused on the depth-averaged sound pressure level (SPL) of the one-third octave (base-10) bands between 10 Hz to 20 kHz in one second snapshots, viewed in monthly percentiles. From these data, we can better understand the criteria and noise thresholds necessary to achieve GES in the North Sea. Part of this effort was to develop a GES Tool, which would allow users to view the modelled noise maps by noise type (ship type, weather, etc.), protected areas designated by various EU agencies, and habitats used by soniferous or sound sensitive species. The tool computes and displays areas where there is a large overlap between anthropogenic noise and key marine species. This tool aims to help policy makers evaluate measures and thresholds put forward to achieve GES.