FY 2000

An inexpensive passive acoustic system for recording and localizing wild animal sounds

Hayes, S.A., D.K. Mellinger, D.A. Croll, D.P. Costa, and J.F. Borsani

J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 107(6), 3552–3555 (2000)

An inexpensive animal recording and tracking system was designed, which uses sound-recording buoys deployed at several locations simultaneously in a passive hydrophone array. Each buoy contains a global positioning system (GPS) Location logger, a stereo digital audio tape (DAT) recorder with a hydrophone connected to one channel, and a VHF radio signal for time synchronization connected to the second channel. In a calibration test, three buoys were deployed in triangle formation at 1.8-km spacing. Light bulb implosions were localized to an accuracy of 60 m at the array center. These buoys are far less expensive than most marine acoustic tracking systems. The instrument package can be used for drift, moored, or terrestrial applications.