Low-Cost Missile Environment Monitor

The objectives of this research are to research and design the necessary components of an environmental impact assessment software suite and to provide modeled environmental impact assessment results for selected sites. The research will focus on theimpact of active acoustic emissions on marine mammals in the oceans. In the research and design portions of the study, AHA will examine the pertinent marine mammal characteristics and develop a database for those characteristics; retrieve and performstatistical analysis of environmental acoustic characteristics of the oceans, including temporal, spatial, and directional variability; investigate active sound propagation and procedures for the assessment of its impact on marine mammals; and incorporatethe above items in the design of a web-enabled environmental assessment decision aid software tool. In the assessment portion of the research, AHA will perform acoustic modeling to produce representative summaries of marine mammal impact for selectedsites.Many organizations within the U.S. government and private industry could make use of the environmental assessment software tool designed as part of this research, in order to ensure compliance with applicable laws. Examples include companiesinvolved in drilling and recovery of natural resources, underwater construction, oceanic transportation, and marine geophysical and seismic surveying.