D4.1 International impulsive noise register for the Mediterranean basin
Open Access
Report
2018
QUIETMED – Joint programme on noise (D11) for the implementation of the Second Cycle of the MSFD in the Mediterranean Sea
Maglio, A., Salivas, M., Lemesnager, P., Arenas, D., Ruiz, P. and Sánchez, M.
This document is the Deliverable “D4.1 International impulsive noise register for the Mediterranean basin.” of the QUIETMED project funded by the DG Environment of the European Commission within the call “DG ENV/MSFD Second Cycle/2016”. The QUIETMED project aims to enhance cooperation among Member States (MS) in the Mediterranean Sea to implement the Second Cycle of the Marine Directive and in particular to assist them in the preparation of their MSFD reports by 2018. This document describes the web tool (Impulsive Noise Register in the Mediterranean Sea, INRMED) built during this project to host data on underwater impulsive noise sources and to display indicators related to Descriptor 11 Criterion 1 (D11C1: Anthropogenic impulsive sound in water) at the regional scale. The INR-MED comes after the development by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) of the international noise register for the North-east Atlantic area (including the North Sea, the Celtic Sea, and the English Channel) and the Baltic Sea, i.e. the areas covered by the Regional Seas Conventions OSPAR and HELCOM, and has the same global objective. It is indeed conceived to support ACCOBAMS in producing information that will feed regional assessments on underwater noise pollution, and in reporting by Contracting Parties which are also members of the European Union to MSFD D11C1, and by Contracting Parties which are not members of EU to the Ecological Objective 11 (Low and mid-frequency impulsive noise) of the Ecosystem Approach process (EcAp/EO11) led by the Barcelona Convention. The tool described in this document covers important objectives of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Secretariats of ACCOBAMS and UNEP/MAP on topics related to underwater noise monitoring and assessment, and relevant provisions of ACCOBAMS Resolutions dealing with the management of the impact of anthropogenic noise on cetaceans (though limited to the Mediterranean Sea). The INR-MED was developed in line with Commission Decision 2017/848 and following guidance documents from TG-Noise. The conception is based on the first demonstration tool developed by ACCOBAMS in 2016 for the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea and took advantage of the work done by OSPAR, HELCOM and ICES on the same topic. Modern web technologies were employed to build the database and the functions of data reporting by countries. The INR-MED includes functions for disseminating information through cartographic means and data download services. Procedure for countries for reporting data are described, and methods selected for calculating and displaying indicators are presented. Finally, this document addresses the topic of long term management of the regional register and presents perspectives for future developments. After the completion of QUIETMED, it is expected that this register will be hosted and be available through the ACCOBAMS’s website.
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