Smart embedded passive acoustic devices for real-time hydroacoustic surveys

This paper describes cost-efficient, innovative and interoperable ocean passive acoustics sensors systems, developed within the European FP7 project NeXOS (Next generation Low-Cost Multifunctional Web Enabled Ocean Sensor Systems Empowering Marine, Maritime and Fisheries Management) These passive acoustic sensors consist of two low power, innovative digital hydrophone systems with embedded processing of acoustic data, A1 and A2, enabling real-time measurement of the underwater soundscape. An important part of the effort is focused on achieving greater dynamic range and effortless integration on autonomous platforms, such as gliders and profilers. A1 is a small standalone, compact, low power, low consumption digital hydrophone with embedded pre-processing of acoustic data, suitable for mobile platforms with limited autonomy and communication capability. A2 consists of four A1 digital hydrophones with Ethernet interface and one master unit for data processing, enabling real-time measurement of underwater noise and soundscape sources. In this work the real-time acoustic processing algorithms implemented for A1 and A2 are described, including computational load evaluations of the algorithms. The results obtained from the real time test done with the A2 assembly at OBSEA observatory collected during the verification phase of the project are presented.