Ships carry cargo and passengers around our planet. In coastal regions, complaintsabout ship noise have been raised from nearby residents. Ships are also thedominant source of continuous underwater noise in the seas.
In the SHIPNOISEproject, we investigate levels of ship noise in coastal regions using a custommeasurement station for both airborne and underwater noise from shipsunderway. The measurement station is developed using embeddedmicroprocessors for low power consumption. The station is deployed at Böttö atthe inlet to Gothenburg harbor, and then at Lurö in Lake Vänern.
These sites areclose to shipping lanes of different traffic intensity. The measured airborne noiselevels indicate that there is a risk to exceed recommended indoor low-frequencynoise limits for dwellings positioned up to several hundred meters from thepassing ships, although the effect on public health is uncertain.
The underwaternoise recorded at 200-300 m range at the SHIPNOISE measurement locationsduring ship passages is strong enough to exceed levels for environmental impactpreviously demonstrated on local marine mammals, fish and possiblyinvertebrates. For example, harbor porpoises, herring and salmon are likely toavoid or escape the area when a loud ship passes.