Collaborative Research: Miniature Low-Cost Vibration Tags and Computing Infrastructure for Identifying Marine Animal Sounds

随着大规模海洋被动声学研究的到来，人们已经清楚地知道，大多数生物声音的来源是未知的。对声源的了解很重要，因为声音可以提供生物活动的可靠测量，例如产卵鱼类的分布，其中许多鱼类，如鳕鱼和石斑鱼，具有重要的商业价值。识别鱼类产生的声学信号非常困难，因为它们中的许多只在特定的行为中发出声音，如领地、攻击性、求偶、产卵和夜间。视频技术有局限性，因为它需要光线，需要在正确的时间出现在正确的地方。基于微型加速度计的创新标签将被开发出来，以捕捉海洋动物的声音。新录制的声音将存放在Macaulay自然声音图书馆的开放式在线基础设施中，提交过程将得到简化，以鼓励类似使用这个免费存储库。通过创建支持共享的计算基础设施，该项目将建立一个系统，使之能够以自我维持的社区驱动的方式解决科学问题。这些微型标签将使人们能够以最低的成本更广泛地研究小型结构和其他动物的运动。该项目将支持三名青年科学家和一名博士后研究科学家的职业生涯。该项目将开发和测试一套廉价的微型加速度计记录器，可以植入或外部连接到鱼身上，并开发一个能够存储数千个此类传感器数据的在线系统。这三种标签设计将解决数据存储、功率和标签大小之间的权衡。数据存储标签将使用microSD卡来存储原始数据。声传输标签将在超声频率上传输原始加速度计数据，该数据由被动声记录器接收和解码。微型标签将是最小、最低功率的标签，它将触发记录以保存可能的信号。数据存储和微型标签将具有外部附着和释放标签的机制，标签将漂浮到表面进行回收。该项目将生产廉价的加速标签和计算基础设施，以促进对水下声源的了解。

With the advent of large-scale marine passive acoustic studies it has become clear that the sources of the majority of biological sounds is not known. Knowledge of sound sources is important because sound can provide a robust measurement of biological activity, such as the distribution of spawning fishes, many of which like the cods and groupers are commercially important. It is very difficult to identify acoustic cues produced by fishes because many of them only make sounds during specific behaviors such as territoriality, aggression, courtship, and spawning and at night. Video technology has limitations in that it requires light and being in the right place at the right time. Innovative tags based on miniature accelerometers will be developed to capture sounds from marine animals. Newly recorded sounds will be deposited in the open, online infrastructure of the Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds, and the submission process will be streamlined to encourage similar use of this free repository. By creating computing infrastructure that enables sharing, this project will build a system that enables a self-sustaining community-driven solution to the science problem. These miniature tags will enable broader research into the motion of small structures and additional animals at minimal cost. This project will support the career of three young scientists and a postdoctoral research scientist. This project will develop and test a suite of inexpensive miniature accelerometer recorders that can be implanted or attached externally to fish, and develop an online system capable of storing data from thousands of these sensors. The three tag designs will address trade-offs between data storage, power, and tag size. The data storage tag will use a microSD card to store raw data. The acoustic transmission tag will transmit raw accelerometer data on an ultrasonic frequency that is received and decoded by a passive acoustic recorder. The micro-tag will be the smallest, lowest power tag, that will have triggered recordings to save likely signals. The data storage and micro-tags will have a mechanism for external attachment and releasing the tag, which will float to the surface for recovery. The project will produce inexpensive acceleration tags and computing infrastructure to advance knowledge of underwater sound sources.