2025_proceedings: Uncertainties and challenges in comparing different sound mapping projects in Europe

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  • Session: 22. Underwater noise in the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive: implementation, monitoring, assessment and measures
    Organised by: Peter Sigray, Aristides Prospathopoulos, Emmanuel Skarsoulis
  • Lecture: Uncertainties and challenges in comparing different sound mapping projects in Europe [[invited]]
    Paper ID: 2323
    Author(s): Ozkan Sertlek, Michael A. Ainslie, Bas Binnerts, Christ A.F. de Jong, Thomas Lloyd, Alex O. MacGillivray, Max Schuster
    Presenter: Özkan Sertlek
    Abstract: Monitoring and modelling ship-generated sound is essential for understanding its potential impact on marine life. Sound maps are practical tools to evaluate the contribution from vessels across time, locations, and frequency bands, with the 63 Hz and 125 Hz decidecade bands being critical for assessing Good Environmental Status under the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Shipping sound maps at these frequency bands have been developed for various European regions. \nThe NAVISON (Navis Sonus) project, funded by the European Maritime Safety Agency, produced shipping sound maps for European seas from 2016 to 2050. Maintained and disseminated by EMSA, these outputs provide a comprehensive, long-term perspective on shipping noise trends, quantify contributions from different vessel categories to ambient sound, enable regional comparisons, and evaluate mitigation performance. EMSA's role in ensuring the accessibility and continuity of these data strengthens its value for marine environmental assessments and policy development.\nThis work reflects on the lessons learnt from NAVISON, focusing on the challenges encountered when comparing NAVISON sound maps for the North Sea with those generated by the EU Interreg project JOMOPANS. The use of different sound map outputs by different projects — such as percentiles, median and arithmetic mean — complicates direct comparison. Additional differences arising from uncertainties in modelling environments, Automatic Identification System (AIS) dataset coverage, and differing approaches to source characterisation, propagation, and sound mapping can be analysed only once a common metric is adopted. \nThese findings underscore the critical need to harmonise metrics and standardise methodologies to facilitate meaningful comparisons, ensuring that sound maps can effectively support marine environmental monitoring and policymaking.
  • Corresponding author: Dr Özkan Sertlek
    Affiliation: JASCO Applied Sciences
    Country: Netherlands

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