Advancements in passive acoustic monitoring: A framework for automated tracking of marine mammals

Dr. Pina Gruden
Acoustics Researcher
Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research and Department of Ocean Resources Engineering
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Location Information
**This seminar will be held both in person (Watanabe Hall 112) and over Zoom**
Meeting ID: 961 6222 2366
Passcode: OREseminar
https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96162222366

Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) is an efficient tool for studying acoustically active sources such as marine mammals. Using a variety of sensors and array configurations, PAM can provide insights into species identity, movements, behaviors and abundance of populations, and is thus an invaluable tool for assessing and monitoring populations. With the advancement of technology, large quantities of data are typically collected, and traditional manual analysis becomes inefficient. A variety of approaches exist for analyzing data collected during different types of surveys. These approaches are usually tailored specifically for certain species, array geometry or signal type, and hence vary depending on the problem under consideration. However, many of these problems are analogous if they are considered from a perspective of target tracking, and can thus be addressed with the same signal processing framework.

In this seminar we will discuss a framework formulated on multi-target Bayesian and finite set statistics. This framework allows for automated tracking of multiple time-varying targets, and incorporates common challenges such as false alarms and missed detections. The framework is demonstrated on real-world problems with different sensor geometries, such as tracking the frequency content of whistle signals, tracking the bearing and/or position estimates of animals, and other features of interest. Finally, we will discuss how the outputs of the framework can be used toward studying species behavior and population abundance.