Conference and Workshops on Passive Acoustics for Monitoring Marine Mammals
at Sea
PAMGUARD is convening a conference on passive acoustics for monitoring
marine mammals at sea and will be introducing, demonstrating and providing
hands on experience with the PAMGUARD software, which is an integrated open
source software package for processing and analysing either real time or
archived input data from both towed and fixed hydrophones.
The PAMGUARD project is a research activity currently supported by the OGP
E&P Sound and Marine Life JIP (originally supported by the Industry Research
Funders Coalition (IRFC)).
The meeting will be held over two days, 28th and 29th March 2007, at
Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK. A one-day conference on the 28th
will be followed by a day of focused workshops and hands-on training
sessions.
The event will be of interest to participants from a range of organisations,
including-
-Commercial, Scientific and Military operators of sound sources in the marine
environment.
PAMGUARD is a tool for underwater acoustic monitoring that can be used for a
range of activities, including marine mammal monitoring for mitigation and
research purposes. Its open source and modular architecture mean it can be
readily adapted to user requirements.
-Marine biology researchers and academics
PAMGUARD is a flexible and adaptable tool that can be used for many research
activities including population surveys and behavioural studies.
-Regulators
PAM (Passive Acoustic Monitoring) is a developing method for monitoring
marine mammals at sea, which has been used as an element of mitigation
requirements for various activities offshore. This event will provide an
opportunity to discuss the strengths and shortcomings of PAM as a monitoring
tool and include discussions related to providing long-term support,
maintenance and future development of PAMGUARD.
-Marine Mammal Observers and PAM operators
The incorporation of PAM in offshore monitoring activities will require MMOs
and/or PAM operators to acquire additional skill sets, in order to interpret
both visual sightings and acoustic detections of marine mammals in the
field. There are advantages in having a single software interface for users
in order to improve the effectiveness of both operator training and
therefore use of PAM in the field. This event is an opportunity to learn
more about this new technology, to be amongst the first to receive training
with PAMGUARD, and to contribute your own practical field experience to its
further development.
-MMO/PAM service providers
This event will provide an opportunity to consider the strengths and
shortcomings of PAM as a monitoring tool and include discussions related to
providing long-term support, maintenance, training and future development of
PAMGUARD.
-Equipment developers and providers
This conference is an opportunity to discuss the use of existing equipment
or future developments in conjunction with PAMGUARD and include discussions
related to providing long-term support, maintenance and the future
development of PAMGUARD.
-Software Developers
As PAMGUARD develops beyond the establishment phase, there will be increasing
opportunities for developers to provide new functionality. PAMGUARD is an
open source programming environment that is proving particularly suitable
for developing new acoustic detection and localisation applications.
---------------------------------
Student competition
A competition to develop new modules within PAMGUARD will be announced at
the conference.
Register
There will be limited availability of spaces for the focused workshops and
hands-on training sessions being held on the second day of the event, so
please register your interest by the end of January to secure a place.
To register your interest in this event and provisionally secure a place for
the focused workshops and hands-on training sessions, please join the
PAMGUARDMeeting list either by sending an email to
<>
or by following this link
<http://groups-beta.google.com/group/pamguardmeetin/boxsubscribe?p=FixAddr&e
mail=&_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fgroups-beta.google.com%2Fgroup%2Fpamguardmeetin%
2Fmanage_promote>
A more detailed announcement with a list of presentations and workshops will
be made in the coming weeks. Registering now will ensure that you receive
all further notices, will provisionally secure you a place and assist us
with planning the event.
Further information regarding PAMGUARD can be found at www.pamguard.org
<http://www.pamguard.org>.
==========================
Douglas Gillespie
Sea Mammal Research Unit,
Gatty Marine Laboratory,
University of St. Andrews,
Fife, KY16 8LB
Scotland.
Tel: +44 1334 462663
Fax: +44 1334 462632
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