Techniques for modeling ocean soundscapes: Detailed description for wind contributionsa)

Area of Science:

• Oceanography
• Acoustics
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Wind over oceans generates breaking waves, creating air-filled bubbles that radiate underwater sound.
• Wind-generated ambient sound is a crucial element of the ocean soundscape, necessitating accurate predictive models.
• Existing models for predicting sound pressure level (SPL) from wind lack unified terminology, leading to discrepancies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare different ambient sound modeling approaches used by researchers.
• To quantify differences in predicted SPL and related metrics across various modeling techniques.
• To identify the causes of discrepancies in SPL predictions for a defined wind-driven sound scenario.

Main Methods:

• Organized the 2022 Ambient Sound Modeling Workshop to facilitate model comparison.
• Defined a specific, well-characterized scenario for consistent model application.
• Collected and analyzed SPL predictions from multiple research groups using their distinct methodologies.

Main Results:

• Observed variations of approximately 6 dB across different modeling groups.
• Identified discrepancies reaching up to 10 dB when compared to benchmark results.
• Attributed these variations to differences in underlying methodologies and assumptions.

Conclusions:

• Significant variability exists in current wind-generated underwater sound SPL models.
• Discrepancies arise from non-standardized terminology and diverse research approaches.
• This paper provides guidance for modeling SPL due to wind and compares results to workshop findings.