The NEMO (NEutrino Mediterranean Observatory) Collaboration installed, 25 km E offshore the port of Catania (Sicily) at 2000 m depth, an underwater laboratory to perform long-term tests of prototypes and new technologies for an underwater high energy neutrino km3-scale detector in the Mediterranean Sea. In this framework the Collaboration deployed and successfully operated for about two years, starting from January 2005, an experimental apparatus for on-line monitoring of deep-sea noise. The station was equipped with four hydrophones and it is operational in the range 30 Hz–43 kHz. This interval of frequencies matches the range suitable for the proposed acoustic detection technique of high energy neutrinos. Hydrophone signals were digitized underwater at 96 kHz sampling frequency and 24 bits resolution. The stored data library, consisting of more than 2000 h of recordings, is a unique tool to model underwater acoustic noise at large depth, to characterize its variations as a function of environmental parameters, biological sources and human activities (ship traffic, etc.), and to determine the presence of cetaceans in the area.
G. Riccobene, for the NEMO Collaboration [, M. Bazzotti, S. Biagi, G. Carminati, T. Chiarusi, et al. (2009). Long-term measurements of acoustic background noise in very deep sea. NUCLEAR INSTRUMENTS & METHODS IN PHYSICS RESEARCH. SECTION A, ACCELERATORS, SPECTROMETERS, DETECTORS AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT, 604(1/2 Supplement), S149-S157 [10.1016/j.nima.2009.03.195].
Long-term measurements of acoustic background noise in very deep sea
BAZZOTTI, MARCO;BIAGI, SIMONE;CARMINATI, GIADA;CHIARUSI, TOMMASO;GABRIELLI, ALESSANDRO;GANDOLFI, ENZO;GIACOMELLI, GIORGIO MARIA;MARGIOTTA, ANNARITA;SPURIO, MAURIZIO;
2009
Abstract
The NEMO (NEutrino Mediterranean Observatory) Collaboration installed, 25 km E offshore the port of Catania (Sicily) at 2000 m depth, an underwater laboratory to perform long-term tests of prototypes and new technologies for an underwater high energy neutrino km3-scale detector in the Mediterranean Sea. In this framework the Collaboration deployed and successfully operated for about two years, starting from January 2005, an experimental apparatus for on-line monitoring of deep-sea noise. The station was equipped with four hydrophones and it is operational in the range 30 Hz–43 kHz. This interval of frequencies matches the range suitable for the proposed acoustic detection technique of high energy neutrinos. Hydrophone signals were digitized underwater at 96 kHz sampling frequency and 24 bits resolution. The stored data library, consisting of more than 2000 h of recordings, is a unique tool to model underwater acoustic noise at large depth, to characterize its variations as a function of environmental parameters, biological sources and human activities (ship traffic, etc.), and to determine the presence of cetaceans in the area.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
