RV Investigator TEMPO Survey: Sonobuoy Acoustic Recordings and Krill Coordinates

From 29 January to 24 March 2021, the RV Investigator voyage IN2021_V01 collected approximately 460 hours of underwater acoustic recordings and Antarctic krill 3D coordinates. The data were gathered using 251 deployed DIFAR sonobuoys as part of the TEMPO survey off the Australian Antarctic Territory. Recordings were contributed by the Australian Ocean Data Network and are intended for predator observation studies.

Use Cases

• Detect and classify blue whale and sperm whale vocalizations based on the acoustic recordings.
• Map marine mammal presence and distribution in the Southern Ocean based on described acoustic detections.
• Correlate krill abundance data from 3D coordinates with acoustic signatures of predators.
• Analyze ocean noise levels and marine mammal vocalization patterns over a multi-week voyage timeline.

Strengths

• Approximately 460 hours of acoustic recordings provide a substantial temporal sample.
• Data collection involved 251 sonobuoy deployments, suggesting broad spatial coverage.
• Recordings specifically note detection capabilities for blue whales, sperm whales, and several other marine mammal species.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Collected via Directional Frequency Analysis and Recording (DIFAR) sonobuoys deployed from the RV Investigator.

Time Range

29 January 2021 to 24 March 2021

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 06:02:32.514693; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southern Ocean, off the Australian Antarctic Territory, voyage from Hobart to Hobart.