LIFE Project Number LIFE+11 ENV/SE/841 Inception Report Covering the project activities from 01/09/2012 to 31/03/2013. Reporting Date <dd/mm/yyyy>

Transcription

1 LIFE Project Number LIFE+11 ENV/SE/841 Inception Report Covering the project activities from 01/09/2012 to 31/03/2013 Project location Reporting Date <dd/mm/yyyy> LIFE+ PROJECT NAME or Acronym BIAS Data Project The Baltic Sea Project start date: 01/09/2012 Project end date: Total budget 4,451,138 EC contribution: 2,215,567 (%) of eligible costs 31/08/2016 Extension date: Data Beneficiary Name Beneficiary Swedish Defence Research Agency Contact person Mr Peter Sigray Postal address Gullfossgatan 6 Telephone Fax: Project Website Peter.sigray@foi.se

2 REQUIRED STRUCTURE: 1. Table of contents 2. List of abbreviations AB Associated Beneficiary(ies) AU Aarhus University, Danish beneficiary 1 AqB AquaBiota Water Research Bs Coordinating and associated beneficiaries as well as sub-contracted partners BSH German Maritime and Hydrographic Agency, German beneficiary 1 CB Coordinating Beneficiary D11 Descriptor 11 FB Fjord&Bælt, Danish partner 2 that was switched to SDU FOI The Swedish Defence Research Agency, coordinating beneficiary FRUG Foundation of the Development of University of Gdansk, Polish beneficiary SwAM Swedish Administration for Water Management IoP Indicator of Progress ITAP Institute for Technical and Applied Physics, German beneficiary 2 KU CORPI Coastal Research and Planning Institute of Klaipeda University, Lithuanian member at the start of the project MSFD Marine Strategy Framework Directive PA Partnership Agreement PoC Point of Contact SDU The University of Southern Denmark, Danish beneficiary 2 SYKE Finnish Environment Institute, Finnish partner TSG-Noise The official European group of experts working on guidelines for implementing D11 TUT Tallinn University of Technology, Estonian beneficiary QA Quality Assurance QO Quiet Oceans 3. Executive summary 3.1. General progress. The project started 1 September The Kick-off meeting was arranged September 2012 in Stockholm. Both administrators and technical staff of AB and CB were attending. The focus was on Common Provisions and activities for the first BIAS period covering 1 September November During the meeting the project plan was scrutinized so to make the AB aware of the details of the project. The focus of work was to start-up actions A1, A2, A3 and B12. The AB was given the task to take contact their national authorities to establish the status of the implementation of descriptor 11 and also to inform that BIAS was up and running with the objective to implement D11 on a regional scale. The AB was also given the task to establish contact with the responsible authorities and investigate the national legislations for acquiring permits for deployment as well as national rules for handling of sound data. Inception report LIFE+ 2

3 The last PA was signed 21 December The administration, E1, of BIAS was sub-contracted as well as action A5, B12 and B13. On 17 November 2012 a meeting was arranged with the BIAS Monitor in Stockholm. The project was presented to the Monitor. The amendment to the Grant Agreement was discussed initiated by the exit of KU CORPI from the project and the switch of beneficiary in Denmark from FB to SDU. The CB administrative systems were demonstrated and discussed. The second meeting was arranged in Helsinki 27 to 29 November 2012, hosted by SYKE. Results from the TSG-Noise group were presented. Special questions related to Common Provisions were discussed. The second period covering the period 1 December 2012 to 28 February 2013 was planned. The action B2 and was started. ITAP presented preliminary draft on standards (action B3). SYKE presented ideas and plans for action B10. It was decided that BIAS recommends ICES squares for registry area (indicator 1 in D11) in the Baltic Sea. The third meeting, a workshop, was planned to be arranged in Hamburg in April All preparatory actions (actions A1-A5) except action A4 have been started. Action A4 cannot be started before equipment has been purchased which is at earliest on 31 May 2013, according to plan. Actions B1, B10, B13, D1, D3, D4 and E9 were also started. The website and facebook was launched 21 December Dissemination got a flying start with medial exposures in newspapers and public radio in Sweden and Estonia. BIAS has also been presented orally at the TSG-Noise meeting (see web site). Special meetings on the role of BIAS in Europe were discussed with the chairman of TSG-Noise, René Derkling. 4. Administrative part 4.1. Description of project management FOI is the coordinating beneficiary of BIAS, and Peter Sigray is the project coordinator. After inviting tenders for project administration in accordance with action A3, AquaBiota was chosen and subcontracted. At AqB, Mari Peters is working with the daily management of project administration. To facilitate an easy communication she is working one day a week in the office of Peter Sigray. The CB and Mari Peters have established an administrative group consisting of people from all ABs and CB (AU, Anita Porsdal; SYKE, Ulla Haapanen, ITAP, Sybille Koller; FRUG, Maria Maslak; SDU, Inge Blond Kroun; BSH, Maria Boethling; TUT, Merle Aadli; FOI, Titti Wiklund). Mari Peters, AqB, is leading this group. For CB Titti Wiklund at FOI with long experience on EU project was appointed to support Mari Peters in FOI related administrative tasks. Mathias Andersson (FOI) is deputy project coordinator and supporting Peter Sigray in the running of the project actions. A weakly occurring meeting is arranged (Mondays or Tuesdays) where FOI and AqB make plan for the rest of the week. This meeting also fills the purpose to inform everybody on the status of the project. Thereby minimizing the potential problem of Inception report LIFE+ 3

4 being dependent on one person. An IoP list was added to the PA to facilitate the running of the project. This list is used by all Bs to plan and execute the actions. A virtual project room has been employed. This room also serves as the Data Sharing Platform. It stores data on a server where a back-up is regularly performed. All Bs has access to this area. The project room can be accessed by login from the website. At the kick-off, a clear division of work was done. The responsible persons for each action were appointed as well as responsible persons for governance of the project, according to the PA. Responsible for started actions are A5, B12 and B13 are Anna Nikolopolus, AqB; A6 and B10 Jukka Pajala, SYKE; B1 Rainer Matuschek, ITAP; B2 Jaroslaw Tegowski, FRUG; and B11 Thomas Folegot, Quiet Oceans (at the writing of the Inception Report). PoCs from all beneficiary responsible persons were appointed for working with the website and facebook. PoCs were also appointed for preparing and performing the field program (actions A1, A2, A3, A4, A6, B3-B10). The organigramme shows the structure of the project. Two changes, compared to the proposal, have been inferred: a steering and an administrative group have been established. The first has the role to act as steering group, according to the governance of the project as defined in the PA. The second group has the role to coordinate the administration of the project in order to facilitate a handling of the project according to the Common Provisions. Both groups are headed by the coordinator of BIAS. Inception report LIFE+ 4

5 4.2. Organigramme of the project team and the project management structure 5. Technical part Underwater sound might potentially harm the marine environment. Sound was included in the MSFD as the 11:th Descriptor, which deals with impulsive and continuous sound. Overall, sound has to be managed and due to its unbound character it should preferably be handled on a regional scale. The BIAS project aims at implementing the MSFD descriptor 11 in the Baltic Sea region. Out of nine bordering nations (eight being EU members) six Inception report LIFE+ 5

6 are beneficiaries in BIAS and one is a voluntary partner (Lithuania), leaving only Latvia and Russia not presently involved in BIAS. The project objectives are to establish tools and standards that can be used by the implementing authorities as well as assess the soundscape based on one year of measurements. Further, an objective is to implement the management on a regional level. The project consists of 40 actions. All actions have defined Indicators of Progress, which are used in the project to follow the project time plan Actions The text refers to the Indicator of the Final Proposal. The indicators and their numbers refer to the Indicator of Progress list given in Appendix Action A1 Planning of field survey This action consists of four IoPs. According to the proposal two should be finished during the first period. IoP1 deals with the gathering of GIS layers for field survey. This IoP was delayed due to the sub-contractor needing more time to gather the data. The data were gathered shortly after the end of the inception period and the IoP is finished, at the time of writing of the Inception Report. The second IoP21 deals with establishing the draft transnational field survey plan, which has been finished. BIAS has preliminary positions for the 38 deployment positions. A draft of the soundscape categories report is done and circulated among the AB. During the next period the A1 action will be completed. Two more IoPs will be finished. The final survey plan will be finalized during June 2013 (IoP37) and the draft soundscape plan will be finalized (IoP38). No delays of action A1 are anticipated Action A2 Permits This action consists of three IoPs. IoP14 is planned to be completed during the period. IoP14 deals with approaching relevant authorities related to deployment and handling of data. In September 2012 all ABs have identified both the authorities approving deployment and authorities approving data handle. The authorities were approached and PoCs were identified. Thus, the first IoP14 is completed. The outcome of the discussions is that there are no formal permits for deploying or handling of data. The authorities and Navies want to be informed on the deployments and sometimes involved in handling of data. Hence, requirements of permits should be replaced by informing relevant authorities. The plan for the next period is to inform during spring/summer. There is no reason to believe that action A2 will be delayed Action A3 Establishment of contracts This action consists of 10 IoPs. Seven IoPs are planned to be finished during the inception period. IoP2: Draft partnership agreement was sent to partners, established and signed by all Abs during the period. IoP3: The public tender for project administration was published during the period. IoP17: Project administrator was contracted during the period. IoP4b: Tenders were issued for A5, B12, B13 during the period. Tenders for C2 and D2 are pending, see 3.3. IoP18b: Subcontracting was done for A5, B11 and B12 during the period. IoP19: Tenders for equipment and consumables are almost done by all AB. One brand of the hydrophone loggers to be used within BIAS will have an upgraded version available during late summer. AB that will use this logger has placed the orders but delivery will not occur until august It should be noted that TUT was Inception report LIFE+ 6

7 not successful in receiving tenders fulfilling their specifications. TUT are in the process to resubmit a tender and is expected to get their equipment before summer 2013 well in advance before deployment (the procurement was successful at end of April). We do not foresee any problems with the procurement of TUT, since the underwater rigs will be designed late summer and tested at a 2-day workshop during autumn in Stockholm Action A4 Preparation of field equipment This action consists of five IoPs. There was no IoP planned to be completed during the period. At the Kick-off meeting, rig designs were discussed and the Swedish rig was shown. The ABs have experience from rig design and it was decided that the ABs will adapt their rigs according to local requirements (e.g. trawl safety). Work has started at CB to develop standardized calibration protocol. Equipment for low-frequency calibration is in place. A rig workshop is planned to be held in Stockholm during the second period where final rig designs are established and where training of rig deployment will be done in the Stockholm Archipelago. No delays anticipated Action A5 Preparation of input data to soundscape modelling This action consists of four IoPs. Two IoPs were to be finished during the current inception period. IoP22 : Primary information on static environmental parameters (bathymetry, sediments, substrate) was completed in March Several relevant sources of bathymetry data and seabed sediment data have been identified. For both bathymetry and sediments, grids delivered to EUSeaMap from the EMODNET hydrography project in 2010 are estimated to withhold the highest quality of all know grids with full spatial coverage of the Baltic Sea. IoP23: Primary information on dynamic parameters (oceanography and ship/noise info) was completed in March A number of sources for modeled real-time water parameters are available. Most national meteorological and hydrological agencies in the Baltic Sea region have comparable operational models from which such data may be retrieved. Also, there are additional projects and organisations which provide the same type of output, eg. MyOcean2. Sources have been identified for ship info from Automatic Identification System data (AIS) as well as fishing Vessel Monitoring System data (VMS). Extracts for of these two ship data types were made for use within the survey planning in action A Action A6 Sea safety course This action consists of four IoPs. There is no IoP to be completed during the period. The AB was asked to present their need for participating in a sea safety course. All ABs responded positively. During the period different suppliers of the course have been approached and the Finnish company Meriturva ( was chosen. Preliminary 16 people in BIAS have shown interest in participating. The course will be given 16 May The action will thereby be completed and closed Action B1 Establishment of noise measurement standards This action consists of 11 IoPs. There is no IoP to be completed during the period. However at the end of April there should be drafts ready. The standards are essential for measuring sound. There are no accepted standards established Inception report LIFE+ 7

8 yet in the world. The BIAS standards will deal with handling of sensors, handling of data and hardware specifications. BIAS will put the three parts into one standard. A working group was established at the Kick-off meeting. At the Helsinki meeting draft ideas was presented by ITAP. The drafts are planned to be established at the workshop in Hamburg in April. No delays are anticipated Action B2 Establishment of signal processing standards This action consists of three IoPs. There is no IoP to be executed in the period. IoP80should be ready 30 April Initial discussions have started on the content and main issues to include. Jaroslaw Tegowski at FRUG is responsible for this action. Scientific papers and the guidelines of the TSG-Noise group has been circulated and discussed. The signal-processing group will meet and make plans at the Hamburg Meeting. No delays are anticipated Action B3 to B9 Field surveys This action consists of five identical IoPs for each action. IoP62-IoP67 will be completed in next period. The field surveys are essential for one of the objectives namely; assessing the soundscape for This will be the first assessment of sound on a regional level in the EU. The preparatory actions are to a large extent devoted to preparing activities for the field survey B10 Data analysis and quality assurance This action consists of five IoPs. There is no IoP to be executed during the period. The quality assurance is interlinked with the standards developed in action B1 and B2. The latter has to be in existence before QA is established. The data analysis will start when data is available. The analyses are dependent on action B2, following the standards will assure that quality requirements are fulfilled. Jukka Pajala at SYKE is responsible for this action. SYKE presented the general idea/use of QA at the Helsinki meeting. QA will be further discussed at the Hamburg meeting. No delays are anticipated B11 Modelling of soundscape This action consists of four IoPs. IoP106 to be completed 30 November The action was not started during the period, according to plan. The procurement was established during the period but the final contract was not. The winner of the tender is planned to be participating in the Hamburg meeting. According to plan, the sub-contractor will cooperate with action A5 (Anna Nikolopoloulos at AqB). No delays are anticipated B12 Design of GIS-based planning tool This action consists of seven IoPs. IoP59 will be completed 31 October The action was started at the Kick-off meeting where AB identified PoCs at the authorities responsible for the implementation of D11. During 2013 these authorities will be approached to discuss/assess the national requirements. No delays are anticipated B13 Establishment of implementation plan and implementation of GISbased planning tool This action consists of three IoPs, of which the first, IoP135, is to be completed 31 July This action will follow when the national requirements have been Inception report LIFE+ 8

9 assessed within action B12. The action start date is 1 January No delays are anticipated B14 Decision chain for management of underwater noise This action consists of three IoPs. IoP69 to be completed 31 December 2013, runs in parallel with IoP59 of action B12. IoP69 states that Initial meeting with concerned parties during discussion with national authorities the decision change of management will be investigated and knowledge gaps will be identified. In BIAS SwAM, SYKE and BSH are regarded as concerned parties. CB has frequent contacts with SwAM. Already at the inception period BIAS has identified that thresholds values, related to impulsive noise, is not specified by the TSG-Noise group. This status will be highlighted as an essential gap that might cause disagreement in implementation of D11. No delays are anticipated B15 Data sharing platform This action consists of three IoPs. IoP48 is to be completed 30 September 2013 and it states that a test version will be available. The data sharing platform has been investigated by the CB. The size depends on what data that will be stored and this in turn depends on what data that the Bs will supply. The final decision on data sharing platform awaits the investigation on data handling that are done in respective participating nation. To facilitate data sharing and the establishment of a BIAS sharing platform a project room was started at the beginning of the project. All Bs has access to this room. All data except raw data can be stored there. No delays are anticipated C1 Monitoring of project impact This action consists of four IoPs. IoP20 to be completed 28 February 2013, which states that Indicators for monitoring of the project impact is established. The Indicators of the monitoring was established in February 2013 and published internally as a BIAS report (see Appendix 7.5). The current status is described and the Indicators are established. The next step will be to approach the authorities and the impact will be investigated on a yearly basis according to the report. This action is run in parallel with B12 and B14. No delays are anticipated C2 Socio-economic analysis This action consists of three IoPs. IoP72 to be completed 28 February A potential tenderer has been approached and a discussion on work tasks was done in December A tender was received but it was not accepted. The procurement will be done by direct treaty. The discussion will continue and a contract is anticipated to be closed during spring D1 Communication Strategy This action consists of five IoPs. IoP15 and IoP24 should have been finished by 31 January 2013 and 31 March 2013, but both are delayed one month due to being coordinated at the during Hamburg meeting in April. During the Helsinki Inception report LIFE+ 9

10 meeting the importance of communication was discussed and that a strategy was going to be distributed and discussed at the Hamburg meeting (April 2013). It was decided that during 2013 the Bs should make contact with either national Fishery or national Ship Owners associations. The expected one month delay will not affect the outcome of action D1 or the implementation of the project D2 Artistic Sound Installation This action consists of four IoPs. IoP111 to be completed 31 December A contract has not been closed with an artist. A potential sub-contractor has been approached, which has shown interest to participate. Discussions are on-going on procurement. The contract will be closed during spring This delay does not affect the outcome of the action, due to the fact that the artist cannot start working before data is being retrieved in March 2014 (at the earliest) D3 Project Website This action consists of nine IoPs. The website, IoP16; launched 21 December The other IoPs deals with updates every half year. An improved version was launched 6 March The website is intimately linked to BIAS facebook account, the news are published on facebook with a link to the web site. The facebook account was launched 21 October D4 Expert Communication This action consists of four IoPs. Action D4 is directed towards discussion/contacts with the expert community. IoP71; To be completed 31 December IoP113 to be completed 31 December The project was presented at the TSG-Noise meeting in Dublin 3-4 October A short text has been produced to be included in the guidelines that the TSG-Noise group will publish. Participation in two conferences is planned. The first is the international conference on Underwater Acoustic Measurement (UAM) ( Kos, June 2013) where BIAS will participate in the poster session. The second is at 3 rd International Conference on The effects of Noise on Aquatic Life, Budapest, August 2013, where an oral presentation has been submitted ( BIAS was also presented with a poster at the MARMONI-project workshop Stakeholders as important actors in Marine Strategy Framework Directive implementation: from decision makers to general public, Tallin, November BIAS was presented at GES-REG seminar ( by SYKE and TUT D5 Layman s report This action consists of two IoPs. IoP163 to be completed 29 February This action has not started D6. End-of-project workshop This action consists of three IoPs. IoP165 to be completed 31 March This action has not started E1Project Management This action consists of 11 IoPs. These cover all the EC reporting such as the Inception report, quarterly reports to project administrator and yearly reports. Al Inception report LIFE+ 10

11 Bs have delivered the 2012 report. All Bs have delivered the first quarterly financial report for This action is following the plan and there is no indication that there will be any delays E2 E7 Project Management AB This action consists of six IoPs. These are consistent with the IoPs of action E1. All Bs have delivered reports in time according to the time plan. No delays are foreseen E8 Project Monitoring This action consists of five IoPs. IoP6; To establish a beneficiary monitoring protocol, was completed in November The protocol was included in the PA. The beneficiairy monitoring protocol and the IoP-list (see Appendix 7.3) includes the same information. The IoP-list will be redistributed to all Bs at the Hamburg meeting E9 Networking and platform meetings This action consists of six IoPs all to be closed 30 September 2013, stating that BIAS should organize one meeting during 2013 with the following stakeholders: HELCOM (Jukka Pajala, SYKE) OSPAR (Peter Sigray, FOI) ICES (Peter Sigray, FOI) ASCOBANS (Ursula Verfuss and Jakob Tougaard, ITAP and AU) ACCOBAM (Ursula Verfuss and Jakob Tougaard, ITAP and AU) SAMBAH (Peter Sigray, FOI) Appointed BIAS PoCs given in parenthesis. Peter Sigray is a member in the EC group TSG-Noise that is currently working on new guidelines for implementation of the D11. The TSG-Noise members are highly central in the development of the European implementation of D11. The project coordinator has had several discussions on BIAS and its role in Europe with this group. TSG-Noise explicitly asked BIAS to contribute to the guidelines. BIAS has submitted text on Soundscape categories and general description of BIAS, where the latter will most probably be included in the Guidelines. Several discussions have taken place with the chairman of TSG-Noise, René Derkling. Further several Members of the TSG-Noise group are also participating in OSPAR. Jukka Pajala and Peter Sigray had a meeting in Helsinki with HELCOM (Samuli Korpinen and Herrmanni Backer). It should be noted that HELCOM has not been permitted to deal with D11, due to member states not giving HELCOM the allowance. During the meeting BIAS was presented to representatives of HELCOM. It was underlined that BIAS should be regarded as a resource that HELCOM can use for implementing D11 in the Baltic Sea. Further, the future role of HELCOMs was discussed. Question on how BIAS could help HELCOM in addressing D11 in the Baltic Sea region was raised. It was suggested by HELCOM that BIAS is presented in HELCOMs newsletter. At the meeting BIAS strongly supported the idea to push forward a coordination role of HELCOM for D11. Inception report LIFE+ 11

12 OSPAR has been informed by SwAM on the BIAS project. SwAM has also informed on the project activities and that the project results can be used in OSPAR. Further, Peter Sigray (Coordinator of BIAS) is a member of the EIHA group (Environmental Impacts of Human Activities) of OSPAR. The EIHA group is dealing with questions related with D11. Peter Sigray has elevated the important question on harmonizing OSPAR and HELCOM, to avoid different interpretations and to avoid diverging guidelines. Peter Sigray has been in contact with SAMBAH on several occasions. SAMBAH and BIAS has started cooperation when it comes to informing stakeholders on the projects. SAMBAH is both aware of and has deep knowledge of BIAS objectives. ASCOBANS will participate in SAMBAH workshop arranged in Gothenburg 15 April There BIAS will be presented in an oral presentation as part of FOI projects dealing with marine environment. ICES, and ACCOBAMS have not been contacted. The plan is to make contact with them at latest during autumn No delays anticipated E10 External Audit This action consists of one IoP to be completed 30 November E11 After-Life communication plan This action consists of two IOPs. IoP175 to be completed 31 August This action has not been started. However, at the meeting with HELCOM the question on housing the data-sharing platform after the end of the BIAS project was raised. However HELCOM reluctantly rejected to house the raw data due to limited data-storage resources. The information for the report will be gathered later in the project. The After- Life strategy depends to a large degree on the national authority s implementation plans. Action E11 will start Envisaged progress until next report. The focus of project activities will be on field surveys and standards. The communication strategy will be developed further. Actions C2 and D2 will be contracted Crew members will acquire safety training Signal processing group will arrange a workshop in autumn 2013 (date not decided) A three day workshop will be arranged in Hamburg (at the writing of the report this workshop was arranged in April 2013) BIAS will arrange a meeting in Budapest in August 2013 in conjunction with an scientific acoustic conference FOI will arrange a workshop on rig handling where sea trials will be arranged in the Stockholm area, in the end of summer 2013 Telephone meetings will be held with the group working on standards Inception report LIFE+ 12

13 Action A1. The field survey group is working hard on preparing for the field surveys. Estonia will procure their equipment during April. Rig designs will be finished and tested. Ships will be appointed covering the survey period Action A2. Discussions will continue on informing relevant authorities and Navies. For Poland and Germany BIAS has to monitor the national decisions on handling of D11 Action A3. Contracts. During next period C2, D2 and ship contracts will be established Action A4. Rigs will be designed and produced during summer FOI will arrange a Rig workshop at the end of summer 2013 (date not decided). Work on establishing calibration protocols will start in April The protocols will be ready before the calibration of the sensors. Calibration of sensors is preliminary planned to be performed in October All Bs have agreed to send sensors to FOI Action A5. The soundscape model input data on static parameters will be collected and stored at AqB. Work is on-going to identify the optimal suppliers. During spring and autumn 2013 the static data will be adapted for action B11. The acquisition of dynamic parameters will have to be made parallel to the field survey period. Hence, all acquisitions and data formats are to be planned and tested before December HELCOM has been contacted as a supplier of AIS data. AB will acquire VMS data on a national basis Action A6. All Bs have had the opportunity to specify the need for sea safety training. In total 16 persons will attend the training in Mineturva Finland, 16 May 2013 Action B1. The drafting group for noise measurement standards will work intensively during spring The draft is ready and will be reiterated during spring. The drafting group will provide material to the group leader that will compile the different contributions. A telephone meeting is planned in May 2013 to discuss the new document. The plan is to finish the Standards during summer Action B2. The signal processing group will have its first meeting in Hamburg. It was decided in Helsinki that FOI will distribute recorded data from the Baltic Sea that will used by all Bs to test processing tools. A workshop will be arranged in September 2013 where processing tools will be established. An inter-comparison event will be arranged during 2014 where tools and scripts are compared (validation). In Helsinki it was decided that the programming tool to be used is Matlab. It was also decided that all scripts and tools developed will be freely accessible for all (including EC). Relevant acoustical methods and entities will be established. During spring 2013 the group will establish parameters that are relevant for sensors such as sampling rate, duty cycle and starting time. During late autumn 2013 the group will focus on what entities to establish (e.g. sound pressure level, sound exposure level, top levels, spectrum, averages). Early spring 2014 the group will focus on how to calculate the established entities (e.g. integration time, window length, and window types). At the first retrieval there should be a set of scripts and tools to use of analysing the measured data. Action B3-B9. The fieldwork will start early December The sensors are planned to start sampling last week of December. The success of the field surveys depends on the preparatory actions. During the period draft Inception report LIFE+ 13

14 deployment positions have been established. Most equipment has arrived. There will be a rig design workshop at the end of summer The authorities handling permits have been approached. During spring-summerearly autumn 2013 the focus of BIAS will be directed towards achieving deployment in the first week of December For this reason a deployment group has been established with participation from all beneficiaries. In early summer ships will be procured or booked. By using the methodology outlined in the soundscape category report the draft positions will be converted to a transnational field survey plan by mainly using information on AIS and VMS. Knowing the exact positions the permits will be acquired. Finally, the sensors will be deployed. This was the initial plan in the proposal and we are confident that this plan is on time. The deputy coordinator has been given the task to coordinate these tasks and to be in contact with the ABs on a weekly basis. We do not foresee any delays. All sensors will be synchronized so to sample at the same time making correlation analysis possible. The sensors will be operating during three months, then retrieved and redeployed. During the next period four deployments will be accomplished. Action B10. Tools for quality control will be developed during spring and autumn Tools for handling of rigs will be presented at the Hamburg meeting. The tools for handling of sensors and data await standards to be established in action B1 (ready during spring 2013). Then standards tools will be established for quality assurance and tested at the deployments (starting December 2013). This action will also include the tools developed in action B2. Action B11. The Contractor (during the time of writing of the Inception report the contract was awarded Quiet Oceans) of B11 will participate in the Hamburg meeting. Spring 2013 will be dedicated to two specific tasks; to specify data formats for data delivered by AqB (action A5), and to change the numerical code of the model to handle ice cover. During spring and autumn 2013 QO will cooperate with AqB to assure that input data (for modelling) is delivered in the right format. During December 2013 QO will make a test run, implement ice cover and produce seasonal soundscapes. A quality check will follow. During 2014 the database will be updated and un-calibrated seasonal soundscape maps will be produced. Action B12. AqB and CB will assess the requirements of the national authorities on the GIS planning tool and its implementation by 31 December 2013 (IoP68). All authorities will be approached by various means before 31 October 2013 (IoP59); SwAM will be approached by AqB and CB. SYKE will establish the Finnish requirements. Together with AqB and CB, TUT and AU will be involved in the assessment of the national requirements for Estonia and Denmark, respectively. A plan for handling the involved authorities in Germany will be established at the Hamburg meeting in close cooperation with BSH, Poland will monitor the national development and approach authorities after it has been decided who is responsible for D11 in Poland. The draft of the GIS planning tool will itself be initiated in spring 2013 and developed in parallel to the recurrent input from the national authorities during 2014 (IoP110). Action B13. This action will start 1 January Contact with SwAM will, however, be initiated earlier (within action B12). A draft implementation plan will be established during the first half of 2015 (IoP135). Inception report LIFE+ 14

15 Action B14. This action identifies gaps in the DPSIR chain (DPSIR is a framework describing interaction between society and environment where the abbreviation stands for: Driving force, Pressures, States, Impacts and Responses). During 2013 SwAM, SYKE and BSH will be approached and gaps will be identified internally in BIAS. We have already indications that gaps will be identified in establishing regional thresholds values and raw data release. These can, however, be handled. BIAS acts actively to implement the same thresholds value in the region. Action B15. The design of the joint data-sharing platform depends to a large extent on the allowance to release raw data, which at the point of the writing of the inception report has not been sorted out. At the moment the project utilizes a project room as data-storing platform where data, results and reports are stored. It can however not hold raw data. If raw data is not released by the nations, the data storage capacity has to be moderately large, compared to joint storage of all raw data in one location. In a meeting with HELCOM the question was raised if they could host a data-sharing platform in the future. HELCOM was not willing to deal with large data storages. Due to several nations not willing to share raw data it seems likely that raw data handling will be dealt on a national base. The data-sharing platform will handle refined data such as weekly averages. The platform will also store data established in A5 as well as reports produced by BIAS. A third use will be to handle the registry of indicator 1 of D11. The release of raw data will be settled during spring/summer This in turn will influence the decision of local or regional storage of raw data. When this question is settled FOI will establish a data sharing platform that will be used by all Bs. This will also be part of the after-life of BIAS as well as transferred to an end owner. Action C1. The Monitoring Protocol of the Impact is established as a list of questions that will be investigated on a yearly basis. The questions are related to awareness and knowledge of BIAS objectives. During 2013 the national authorities will be approached (Poland might be an exception depending on the national status not being established) by the BIAS beneficiaries. Action C2. The contract will be closed during spring 2013 with a subcontractor that will perform the analysis. Action D1. The main events during 2013 are that all Bs will approach either national ship owners or fishermen organisations to inform about BIAS objectives. The CB will approach HELCOM to write a short text to be published in their Newsletter. CB will also approach the Swedish Ship Owners association to publish information on BIAS. CB will also participate in the Swedish Maritime Days to orally inform on BIAS and underwater sound. BIAS will be presented at UAM conference and an abstract on BIAS is submitted to 3 rd conference on the effects of noise on aquatic life. CB has been contacted by the national Swedish Radio, who plans to make a story on BIAS. During the next period ICES and RAC will be approached as well as Latvia and Russia. Action D2. The contract will be closed during spring The artist will be introduced to the BIAS project and to Quiet Oceans. The latter has been contracted to cooperate with the artist. The artist will be given the opportunity to start working with data that are retrieved on the first retrieval cruise. Inception report LIFE+ 15

16 Action D3. The project web site is planned to be up-dated at least every third week. The web-site is intimately connected to the facebook account. The latter has been updated every second week since it was started. Action D4. BIAS will be presented at two conferences during 2013, namely UAM and 3 rd international conference on the effects of noise on aquatic life. It is planned to have a BIAS project meeting in conjunction with the conference. Action D5. This action will be started during Action D6. This action will be started during Action E1. This action is running continuously. An administrator group has been established (see organigramme) that will meet regularly to discuss administrative issues and to harmonize the reporting. AqB is leading the group. The co-ordinator will have weekly meetings face-by-face with the administrator from AqB. To facilitate the information exchange the administrator will be situated at the co-ordinators office at least one day per week. The administrator is available by phone all weekdays. Quarterly financial reporting from ABs will continue and the AqB will continue checking them. The co-ordinator will plan for the activities of the project, to ensure that the project is in pace with the plan. During next period emphasis will be on meetings, workshops, and outreach. Notably is that all questions related to administration and Common Provisions is handled by AqB. This division of work results in coordinator having time to deal with the project actions instead of spending time answering s. Action E2-E7. The Bs administrators will continue to work with reporting as well as ensure that the Common Provisions are followed. They will continue to handle the reporting forms and time sheets. They will send quarterly reports to the CB (handled by AqB) and reports related to Mid-term report. Action E8. The CB will use the IoP-list to ensure that the project produce according to the proposal as well as keeping to the time plan. This action is essential for the co-ordination of the project and the IoP-list will be used in the daily running of the project. The IoP-list will be updated during the next period to include Milestones and Deliverables. E9. During the next period ICES, ASCOBANS, and ACCOBAM will be approached. All three organisations will be contacted by phone or mail and, if possible, meetings will be arranged. During the Inception period HELCOM and SAMBAH were contacted. Contacts were established and BIAS (through SYKE) is regularly in contact with HELCOM. BIAS is closely monitoring the development of the Ministry meetings where indications show that HELCOM might start dealing with D11. AU is planning for meetings during 2013 with Danish Nature Agency, Danish Maritime Authorities, Danish Energy Agency, Danish Ship-Owners Association and Danish Nature Agency s working group for marine mammals. General press release in connection to the first deployment of instruments is planned. TUT is planning for a BIAS project meeting in Tallinn in November 2013, a short course "Applied underwater acoustics" during Autumn Spring 2014, and BIAS seminar for Estonian project partners in Spring Action E10. External Audit will be done in Action E11. Discussions with ICES will be arranged where BIAS will suggest that ICES could be the future owner of the raw sound data and publish the soundscape maps. The end-user will depend on the development of HELCOM s role. The communication plan will be compiled in Inception report LIFE+ 16

17 The Gantt-scheme below shows that the project is in line with the proposal except for C2 and D2. Tasks/ Activities Overall project schedule Action A T 2T 3T 4T 1T 2T 3T 4T 1T 2T 3T 4T 1T 2T 3T 4T 1T 2T 3T 4T O Start date X X X O X X X O Mid-Term O End date X=Progress reports Action A2 Action A3 Action A4 Action A5 Action A6 Action B1 Tasks/ Activities Action B2 Action B3-B9 Action B10 Action B11 Action B12 Action B13 Action B14 Action B15 Action C T 2T 3T 4T 1T 2T 3T 4T 1T 2T 3T 4T 1T 2T 3T 4T 1T 2T 3T 4T Inception report LIFE+ 17

18 Action C2 Action D1 Action D2 Action D3 Action D4 Action D5 Action D6 Action E1-E7 Action E8 Action E9 Action E10 Action E11 6. Annexes 6.1. Deliverables/Milestones 6.2. Indicators of Progress Time plan 6.4. Indicator action C1 Indicators for Monitoring of the project impact on management of underwater noise 6.5. Indicator action A1 Draft Deployment Plan 6.6. Indicator action D1 Proactive Communication Strategy Inception report LIFE+ 18

19 6.1 Deliverables/Milestones Deliverables Milestones Inception report LIFE+ 19