Monitoring marine ambient sound using standardized methods supports assessments of ocean sound levels across widespread ecosystems. This thesis quantifies differences among coastal and deep-water marine soundscapes in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The sources of sound in a soundscape are compartmentalized into three components and compared over time and among...
Sound is a crucial aspect of the underwater environment for fishes – various species use sound to communicate, identify predators, navigate, and many other activities needed for survival in their habitat. Disruptions and disturbances in the natural soundscape can have important impacts on all these activities and are likely to...
This study compares three approaches in the design of an autonomous machine listening agent that predicts harbor porpoise ultrasonic echolocation clicks in diverse noise environments. Considering the temporal variations of noisy coastal ocean soundscapes which the harbor porpoises inhabit, we propose a leave-one-day-out (LODO) cross-validation strategy in the training of...
During applied signal-detection (e.g., airport-baggage screening) human operators can be assisted in their decision-making process by automated devices. Automation implementation is aimed at increasing performance relative to unaided levels. Generally, this intended effect is empirically observed. However, operators consistently fall short of optimal levels of aided performance, indicating suboptimal aid-use...
Heterogeneous porous material represents a persistent challenge in the field of engineering. Microscale properties such as the porosity and microchannel torturosity significantly control the macroscale transport characteristics of homogeneous porous medium. Additional complexity is introduced when these small-scale features vary in space. Examples of heterogeneous porous systems include artificial body...
Efficient foraging strategies result in a predator spatially overlapping with its prey, foraging in the most profitable patches, and minimizing the time transiting between patches. Previous studies investigating baleen whale foraging strategies have generally focused on investigating spatial overlap with prey patches, patch profitability or movement within feeding grounds. The...
In discrete event simulation, probability distributions are used as models of various unpredictable system components. The times between equipment failures and job processing times are examples of such random system components. The commonly recommended and taught practice for selecting a probability distribution to represent a random component is a multistep...