National Research Council - Bioacousticslab Capo Granitola, Institute of Anthropic Impact and Sustainability in marine Environment, Via del Mare, 6 - 91021 Torretta Granitola, Campobello di Mazara, (TP), Italy.
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (DIMEAS), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, Torino, TO, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2019 Jul 3;9(1):9586. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-45926-1.
In this study, underwater noise from a full-scale wave energy converter system (ISWEC), installed on the coast of Pantelleria Island (central Mediterranean Sea), was characterized. The noise was measured using an autonomous acoustic recorder anchored to the sea bottom 40 m from the ISWEC hull. Acoustic monitoring continued for 15 months, starting 7 months before (PRE), 2 months during (INST) and 6 months after the ISWEC installation (POST). The levels of noise, assessed with power spectrum density and octave and third-octave band sound pressure levels (BSPLs), were higher during the POST period than during the PRE period at lower frequencies up to 4 kHz and increased with wave height. During the ISWEC activation for energy production (POST_ON) in the wave height range 1-2.9 m, the BSPLs increased much more at lower frequencies up to 4 kHz (the median BSPLs at 63 Hz for the PRE, POST, and POST_ON conditions were 73, 106, and 126 dB re 1μPa, respectively). Considering the biophonies that make up the soundscape of the area, we examined the possible masking of fish choruses due to ISWEC noise and highlighted that at a distance of 1000 m, the 800 Hz peak frequency was 10 dB above the ISWEC signal. Within this distance from ISWEC, a possible masking effect is supposed.
本研究对安装在潘泰莱里亚岛（地中海中部）海岸的全尺寸波浪能转换器系统（ISWEC）产生的水下噪声进行了描述。噪声使用安装在距 ISWEC 船体 40m 处海底的自主式声学记录仪进行测量。声学监测持续了 15 个月，从 ISWEC 安装前 7 个月（PRE）、安装期间 2 个月（INST）和安装后 6 个月（POST）开始。在较低频率（高达 4kHz），与 PRE 期相比，POST 期的噪声水平（通过功率谱密度和倍频程和三分之一倍频程声压级（BSPL）评估）更高，并且随波高增加而增加。在 ISWEC 为发电而激活（POST_ON）的波高范围为 1-2.9m 时，在较低频率（高达 4kHz）时 BSPL 增加得更多（在 PRE、POST 和 POST_ON 条件下，63Hz 的中位数 BSPL 分别为 73、106 和 126dB 相对于 1μPa）。考虑到构成该区域声音景观的生物发声，我们检查了由于 ISWEC 噪声而导致鱼类合唱可能被掩蔽的情况，并强调在 1000m 的距离处，800Hz 的峰值频率比 ISWEC 信号高 10dB。在距离 ISWEC 1000m 以内，可能会产生掩蔽效应。
