March 2020 – USMART measures the effect of Covid-19 on North Sea Vessell Traffic

A recently deployed wireless passive acoustic vessel detector has managed to measure the effect of the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown on marine traffic. This seabed deployed device detects vessels via their acoustic emissions within a radius of 2-3km. It acoustically transmits its data to the ANGY surface buoy, 3km out from Blyth Northumberland, which then transmits to shore. As the figure illustrates, since the UK was asked to work from home and halt all non-essential travel the volume of vessel activity detected by the sensor node has decreased significantly. The ANGY hydrophone data is now being analysed to see the effect on anthropogenic noise levels of this unprecedented event.

Last modified: Tue, 31 Mar 2020 12:11:48 BST