ShipEcho -- An Interactive Tool for Global Mapping of Underwater Radiated Noise from Vessels

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Shipton, Mark, Denona, Valentino, Nađ, Đula, Diamant, Roee
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Shipton, Mark
Denona, Valentino
Nađ, Đula
Diamant, Roee
author_facet Shipton, Mark
Denona, Valentino
Nađ, Đula
Diamant, Roee
contents Underwater radiated noise from vessels (V-URN) is a recognized environmental stressor that negatively impacts marine ecosystems. Significant resources are invested in the development of V-URN monitoring indicators, regulatory frameworks, and management-oriented assessments. One approach with high potential for impact is V-URN mapping, which can provide actionable spatiotemporal information for environmental assessment and mitigation planning. Producing management-scale maps remains challenging as passive acoustic measurements are spatially sparse and many operational systems depend on specialist workflows and costly access to wide-area vessel activity data. To address these constraints, we introduce ShipEcho, a freely accessible web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) that provides near-real-time V-URN mapping using vessel data acquired through a community-based AIS exchange. Using established vessel SL models and propagation modeling informed by bathymetric data, ShipEcho produces near-real-time and cumulative noise maps across regions worldwide. These include sound pressure levels and sound exposure levels using standard indicators, including the 63~Hz and 125~Hz one-third octave bands and a 20--2000~Hz broadband level. We describe the system architecture, data pipeline, modeling workflow, and key assumptions, and evaluate map accuracy through comparison with acoustic recordings. We then demonstrate how ShipEcho can support management-level assessment, decision-making, and policy initiatives through practical use cases.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_08194
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle ShipEcho -- An Interactive Tool for Global Mapping of Underwater Radiated Noise from Vessels
Shipton, Mark
Denona, Valentino
Nađ, Đula
Diamant, Roee
Sound
Audio and Speech Processing
Signal Processing
Underwater radiated noise from vessels (V-URN) is a recognized environmental stressor that negatively impacts marine ecosystems. Significant resources are invested in the development of V-URN monitoring indicators, regulatory frameworks, and management-oriented assessments. One approach with high potential for impact is V-URN mapping, which can provide actionable spatiotemporal information for environmental assessment and mitigation planning. Producing management-scale maps remains challenging as passive acoustic measurements are spatially sparse and many operational systems depend on specialist workflows and costly access to wide-area vessel activity data. To address these constraints, we introduce ShipEcho, a freely accessible web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) that provides near-real-time V-URN mapping using vessel data acquired through a community-based AIS exchange. Using established vessel SL models and propagation modeling informed by bathymetric data, ShipEcho produces near-real-time and cumulative noise maps across regions worldwide. These include sound pressure levels and sound exposure levels using standard indicators, including the 63~Hz and 125~Hz one-third octave bands and a 20--2000~Hz broadband level. We describe the system architecture, data pipeline, modeling workflow, and key assumptions, and evaluate map accuracy through comparison with acoustic recordings. We then demonstrate how ShipEcho can support management-level assessment, decision-making, and policy initiatives through practical use cases.
title ShipEcho -- An Interactive Tool for Global Mapping of Underwater Radiated Noise from Vessels
topic Sound
Audio and Speech Processing
Signal Processing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.08194