The funding of the project is in response to the requirement of
the MSFD (European Parliament and the Council of the European
Union, 2008) to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) of EU
marine waters by 2020. GES is defined in the MSFD by eleven
qualitative descriptors, Descriptor 11 of which states that:
“Introduction of energy, including underwater noise, is at levels
that do not adversely affect the marine environment”.
The investigation of anthropogenic underwater noise is therefore
a key element in achieving the goals of the MSFD. As discussed
in the preceding section, shipping is a major contributor to the
overall levels of noise in the oceans and therefore requires detailed
consideration. The aim of the SONIC project is to investigate radiated
noise from ships, primarily concentrating on underwater noise
from propeller cavitation, and to deliver tools to improve the
measurement, mapping and mitigation of cavitation noise.
The project has three principal aspects. The first is to develop
techniques for the accurate prediction of ship radiated noise levels
from scale model tests. A number of approaches to improve the
accuracy of these predictions are being explored. These include
novel experimental and computational techniques for the measurement
of cavitation noise in scale model facilities such as
cavitation tunnels and towing tanks, taking into account the
acoustically reverberant nature of these environments