Scaling offshore pile driving noise: examples for scenarios with and without a big bubble curtain

For the installation of offshore wind turbines, large pile foundations are driven into the seabed. The pile driving process can lead to high sound pressure levels in the water column. These levels can reach magnitudes that are potentially dangerous for the marine fauna. Therefore, in many countries the emitted sound pressure levels have to comply with limit values in order to protect the marine environment. Noise mitigation measures are usually necessary to fulfill these limits. Prior to wind farm construction, complex numerical models are often applied for a precise prediction of the occurring sound pressure levels to be expected. In order to allow a simplified first estimation even without such detailed calculation models, scaling laws provide an alternative approach. Within this contribution, already existing scaling laws for unmitigated pile driving are updated for scenarios including a big bubble curtain. The sound exposure levels of six different sites are estimated applying scaling laws for unmitigated and mitigated pile driving noise and compared to the actual measurements.

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Scaling offshore pile driving noise: examples for scenarios with and without a big bubble curtain