Noise-Modeling
Poster Number
11
Format
Poster Presentation
Faculty Mentor Name
Stacie Hooper
Faculty Mentor Department
Biological Sciences
Abstract/Artist Statement
Energy development is a growing industry in Wyoming, and Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus Urophasianus) populations appear to be declining in areas near development sites. The overall goal of this project is to develop a model for understanding whether industrial noise has played a significant role in these reductions by impacting nesting success and attendance at communal breeding grounds called leks. We are using a software package called NMSim (generously provided to us by Blue Ridge Research and the National Park Service) to build a computer simulation of noise propagation across the landscape in our study area, the Pinedale Anticline in southwestern Wyoming. NMSim uses frequency and amplitude measurements from noise sources (drilling rigs and wells producing natural gas in our case), topographical data, and measurements of other factors affecting sound propagation to build a spatially-explicit model of sound propagation. We know that atmospheric conditions affect sound propagation (Wiley and Richards, 1978), so we included the effects of wind, atmospheric temperature, and humidity in our noise modeling approach for sage-grouse. It is unclear, however, how much sound absorption by the ground affects sound propagation in our study area. Greater sage-grouse males display on leks in the early spring (mid-March to the end of April); females then leave to build nests and raise chicks a few miles away. In early spring the ground is often covered by a foot or more of snow, but by the time females build their nests in April and May, the snow is gone, exposing the soft, powdery dirt. Snow is an acoustically soft surface, meaning that it absorbs most sound waves that hit it, rather than reflecting some back into the air as soft dirt does. In this experiment, we compared noise levels at leks and nests using two different values for ground absorption: soft dirt and snow. We did this by simulating noise from drilling rigs present in the study area in 1998 and 1999 under snow-covered ground and exposed dirt conditions and measuring the noise levels that reached sage-grouse lek and nest locations. We repeated the simulation for the same time periods using producing wells, which have a very different sound profile (both frequencies and amplitudes) than drilling rigs. Our results will tell us whether the presence of snow on the ground affects the levels of noise which reach nearby sage-grouse leks and nests. Our results will also inform us as to whether we need to include this variable in our noisemodeling approach for sage-grouse.
Location
DeRosa University Center, Ballroom
Start Date
30-4-2016 1:30 AM
End Date
30-4-2016 3:30 PM
Noise-Modeling
DeRosa University Center, Ballroom
Energy development is a growing industry in Wyoming, and Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus Urophasianus) populations appear to be declining in areas near development sites. The overall goal of this project is to develop a model for understanding whether industrial noise has played a significant role in these reductions by impacting nesting success and attendance at communal breeding grounds called leks. We are using a software package called NMSim (generously provided to us by Blue Ridge Research and the National Park Service) to build a computer simulation of noise propagation across the landscape in our study area, the Pinedale Anticline in southwestern Wyoming. NMSim uses frequency and amplitude measurements from noise sources (drilling rigs and wells producing natural gas in our case), topographical data, and measurements of other factors affecting sound propagation to build a spatially-explicit model of sound propagation. We know that atmospheric conditions affect sound propagation (Wiley and Richards, 1978), so we included the effects of wind, atmospheric temperature, and humidity in our noise modeling approach for sage-grouse. It is unclear, however, how much sound absorption by the ground affects sound propagation in our study area. Greater sage-grouse males display on leks in the early spring (mid-March to the end of April); females then leave to build nests and raise chicks a few miles away. In early spring the ground is often covered by a foot or more of snow, but by the time females build their nests in April and May, the snow is gone, exposing the soft, powdery dirt. Snow is an acoustically soft surface, meaning that it absorbs most sound waves that hit it, rather than reflecting some back into the air as soft dirt does. In this experiment, we compared noise levels at leks and nests using two different values for ground absorption: soft dirt and snow. We did this by simulating noise from drilling rigs present in the study area in 1998 and 1999 under snow-covered ground and exposed dirt conditions and measuring the noise levels that reached sage-grouse lek and nest locations. We repeated the simulation for the same time periods using producing wells, which have a very different sound profile (both frequencies and amplitudes) than drilling rigs. Our results will tell us whether the presence of snow on the ground affects the levels of noise which reach nearby sage-grouse leks and nests. Our results will also inform us as to whether we need to include this variable in our noisemodeling approach for sage-grouse.