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Open Submitted: 17 October 2001 Accepted: 19 December 2001 Published Online: 04 February 2002

  • Ocean ambient sound: Comparing the 1960s with the 1990s for a receiver off the California coast

Acoustics Research Letters Online 3, 65 (2002); https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1461915
Rex K. Andrew, Bruce M. Howe, and James A. Mercer
  • Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98105
    • Matthew A. Dzieciuch
  • Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093
    • more...View Contributors
    • Rex K. Andrew
    • Bruce M. Howe
    • James A. Mercer
    • Matthew A. Dzieciuch
    ABSTRACT
    Ocean ambient sound data from 1994 to 2001 have been collected using a receiver on the continental slope off Point Sur, California. A temporary, nearby receiving array was used for calibration purposes. The resulting data set is compared with long-term averages of earlier measurements made with the identical receiver over the period from 1963 to 1965. This comparison shows that the 1994 to 2001 levels exceed the 1963 to 1965 levels by about 10 dB between 20 and 80 Hz and between 200 and 300 Hz, and about 3 dB at 100 Hz. Increases in (distant) shipping sound levels may account for this.

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    1. © 2002 Acoustical Society of America.

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