Antarctic Blue Whale Acoustic Event Log from 2013 Voyage

2013 acoustic event logs from a Southern Ocean voyage contain sonobuoy-detected whale calls and other sounds, classified by onboard acousticians. The dataset includes processed bearings, frequencies, and estimated receive levels for each event, linked to sonobuoy deployment locations. It was collected by the Australian Antarctic Data Centre during the 2013 Antarctic Blue Whale Voyage.

Use Cases

• Classify whale species or sound types (soundType) using features like frequency_Hz, bearing_degreesMagnetic, and logDifarPower.
• Model the spatial distribution of vocalizations by analyzing event locations (Latitude, Longitude) linked to sonobuoy deployments.
• Estimate acoustic source levels or propagation loss by correlating receiveLevel_dB with event distance and environmental parameters.
• Analyze temporal patterns of vocal activity by examining timestamps (timeStamp_matlabDatenum) across different sound classifications.
• Validate automated detection algorithms by comparing machine outputs against human-annotated events classified by acousticians.

Strengths

• Contains human-expert classifications (soundType) for each acoustic event, providing ground truth labels.
• Includes precise spatiotemporal metadata (Latitude, Longitude, timeStamp_matlabDatenum) for event localization.
• Provides derived acoustic metrics like receiveLevel_dB and logDifarPower for signal analysis.

Limitations

• Sample size and total row count are unknown, limiting assessment of statistical power.
• Data is from a single voyage in 2013, offering a temporal snapshot rather than long-term monitoring.
• Geographic coverage is restricted to the specific cruise track of the 2013 Antarctic voyage.

Provenance

Source

Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AU_AADC).

Collection Method

Real-time acoustic monitoring and manual annotation by acousticians during the 2013 Antarctic Blue Whale Voyage, using sonobuoys and difarBSM software.

Time Range

2013 (specific voyage dates unknown).

Freshness

null

Geography

Southern Ocean, Antarctic region.