Acoustic propagation model and Acoustic Target Model

How cetacean sounds interact with and propagate through the environment is part of the LAB’s interests. Proper acoustic models of the animals and their variable environment are a necessity in order to better understand the intricate relationships that cetaceans experience continuously with the outer world through hunting, orientation and communication. The integration of these models in a stand-alone computer-based framework is an additional step that needs further validation in the face of real-world observations. Building such a framework is a cross-disciplinary task that involves several scientific fields, from biology and ecology to applied mathematics and theoretical physics. While the LAB has initiated the development of such a modelling tool for the sperm whale, its improvement and model integration of other species are underway. One of the objectives is to eventually have an assessment tool to advise on the creation of policies towards underwater anthropogenic noise control.