Standardization | International Quiet Ocean Experiment (IQOE)

Standardization

Projects carried out under the Themes of the IQOE must agree to standard techniques and/or perform intercalibrations among techniques or observations to make it possible to compare their results. The IQOE will form a subcommittee responsible to recommend best practices for experimentation and observation or, where this is considered undesirable, will determine other means to ensure that results are comparable. It will be important to leave room for innovation in methods, while still striving for comparable results. The working group should involve experts in ocean observing systems, data and data processing, and animal observations.

Co-chairs

Christ de Jong (The Netherlands)

Michael Ainslie (The Netherlands)

Other Members

Tomonari Akamatsu (Japan)

Rex Andrew (USA)

Doug Cato (Australia)

Ross Chapman (Canada)

Christine Erbe (Australia)

Jennifer Miksis-Olds (USA)

Stephen Robinson (UK)

Terms of Reference

The primary tasks of the IQOE Standardization Working Group are to

identify existing standards for observations of sound in the ocean, data processing and underwater sound modelling;
recommend standards and promote best practices for observations of sound in the ocean (including observation systems, planning for temporal, spatial and frequency sampling and acquisition of metadata), data processing and underwater sound modelling;
recommend methodology for assessment and reporting of uncertainty (associated with precision and accuracy) in observations of sound in the ocean;
promote means (including facilities) of calibration and inter-comparison of acoustic receivers;
oversee IQOE activities and projects endorsed by IQOE with the overall goal of achieving meaningful and comparable data for datasets that will result from these activities; and
communicate with IQOE Data Management and Data Access Working Group on data relevant for observations of sound in the ocean that are likely to be stored and archived

Products

IQOE Inventory of Existing Standards for Observations of sound in the ocean - 6 April 2018 Version

Workshop Report: Guidelines for Observation of Ocean Sound

Status

IQOE is in its 9th year as a 10-year project and continues to implement of its Science Plan (available here). IQOE has successfully coordinated a variety of activities in ocean acoustics and bioacoustics through IQOE working groups on the use of acoustics to assess biodiversity, the importance of acoustic observations in the Arctic Ocean, standards for reporting ocean acoustic and bioacoustic data for IQOE, software for making acoustic observations comparable worldwide, and recommendations for implementation of an Ocean Sound Essential Ocean Variable for the Global Ocean Observing System. IQOE progress has been documented since June 2018 through IQOE Newsletters and since the beginning of the project through other products. IQOE identified 2020 as the Year of the Quiet Ocean because of evidence that ocean sound decreased because of decreases in human activities in the ocean due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Next Steps

Activities in 2024 will include actions to help implement the Ocean Sound Essential Ocean Variable Implementation Plan; continuation of new activities on low-cost ocean acoustic observing systems and expansion of the Open Portal to Underwater Sound (OPUS), implementation of the Global Library of Underwater Biological Sounds, sponsorship of the second World Ocean Passive Acoustic Monitoring Day; and meetings of IQOE working groups and Science Committee.