QR_N6227120Q1124.doc

N6227120Q1124

Questions and Responses for Solicitation # N6227120Q1124 Characterizing Soundscapes on the US West Coast Q1: Are there any incumbents to the soundscape characterization work? It sounds like the project is fairly new and just past the data collection phase, so perhaps there aren’t any incumbents.

R1: There aren’t any incumbents. This is a new requirement.

Q2: Are there any expected data products/analyses that NPS would like to see? Marine mammal detections/density estimation comes to mind, as does ship noise characterization. I ask because NPS probably had a vision of soundscape analysis at the time that the project was originally proposed, and we’d like to ensure that any analysis we propose aligns with this vision.

R2: The project will be generating various reports on different aspects of the soundscape. Our goal is to characterize habitat conditions and identify species presence, as well as human activity levels, in proximity to recording locations. While there are some standard metric products we will make (e.g., third-octave levels), we want fact-based interpretations of the data that show how sound is a critical constituent of these protected environments. We are not limited in the scope of our analysis except by the data we collect. We are looking to develop story topics that would be of particular interest and informative to Sanctuary resource managers and the general public.

Q3: Is there an allocated funding level for the one-year (base) and additional year (option one) analysis?

R3: The government cannot disclose financial information relating to contract actions. Offerors are to propose a firm-fixed-price based on the interpreted level-of-effort required to fulfill the tasks and deliverables in the performance work statement.

Q4: Are there any reports/papers on the data that has been collected to date? Type of equipment used, frequency bands of data collected, water depths where recorders were placed, deployment durations, etc.

R4: No reports or papers on the data have been produced yet, but some topics are in development. The effort so far has been focused on collecting data in marine sanctuaries to learn what their soundscapes are composed of. Acoustic data is collected from a network of moorings. The SoundTrap ST500-STD recorder is the primary recorder deployed, however, we also use a HARP and the MARS Cable Observatory hydrophone. The ST500s sample at 48kHz, the HARP at 200kHz and MARS at 256 kHz. ST500s are in shallower water depths from 15m-150m. The HARP and MARS sites are at ~850m. We have five ST500s in CINMS, four in OCNMS and two in MBNMS. The HARP and MARS phone are in MBNMS. The ST500s are refreshed at 4 month intervals, the HARP at 6-7 month intervals. MARS is maintained from shore. Other non-acoustic data (eg, wx buoys, AIS) are also used to help interpretation of the acoustic data.

Q5: What specific analysis is of interest?

R5: The scope of our analysis is only limited by the data we collect. We want to explain how sound is an important parameter in Sanctuary environments. Each Sanctuary has its unique soundscape which is composed of various combinations of man-made, biologic and natural geophysical contributors. Our intent is to develop stories that help resource managers and the general public understand how sound plays an important and impactful role in the holistic Sanctuary environment. These stories may include (but are not limited to) ship noise variability, species presence, human activity, weather-related events, etc. We want to characterize the interrelationships that affect the soundscape.