CTN launches a tool that translates acoustic data to improve decision-making for maritime professionals.
- Presented at OCEANOISE 2026, the Marine Acoustics Data Knowledge Hub seeks to be an international meeting point for scientifically rigorous decision-making in the environmental management of underwater noise
- The tool connects businesses, public administrations, consultancies, offshore developers, ports, and research centres with data, technical expertise, specialised resources, and services to advance towards a more sustainable Blue Economy
Last week, at OCEANOISE 2026 in Vilanova i la Geltrú, the Marine Technology Centre (CTN) presented the Marine Acoustics Data Knowledge Hub platform, a digital ecosystem designed to become an international benchmark in the environmental management of underwater noise. The launch took place during one of the leading conferences for the scientific, technical, and professional community dedicated to the study, measurement, modelling, assessment, and mitigation of ocean noise. The presentation of this platform represents a new step in the strategy of CTN, a sponsor of OCEANOISE 2026, to bring rigour, comparability, and technical criteria to a growing challenge: the management of underwater noise pollution in the context of expanding maritime activity, offshore development, port traffic, new infrastructure, and increased environmental sensitivity.
The choice of OCEANOISE 2026 as the venue to present the Marine Acoustics Data Knowledge Hub reflects the international and specialised nature of the conference, as the event has gathered the professional community currently working on the very challenges the platform aims to address: how to measure more accurately, how to interpret with shared criteria, and how to translate acoustic knowledge into useful decisions for ocean protection.
During the conference, CTN hosted a stand in the exhibition area of OCEANOISE 2026, where visitors could learn about some of its services and capabilities, as well as the international projects it is currently involved in. Furthermore, CTN also participated in this gathering by delivering various scientific-technological sessions focused on acoustic propagation, bubble curtains, metamaterials, impact assessment, and applied solutions for the marine environment..
From acoustic data to technical criteria
Underwater noise is no longer solely a scientific issue. It is a factor that dictates environmental, regulatory, and operational decisions in ports, offshore projects, environmental impact assessments, conservation strategies, maritime operations, and authorisation processes. However, the main challenge is not merely to measure. The real bottleneck lies in transforming complex acoustic signals, obtained using different methodologies, equipment, and contexts, into reliable, comparable, and interpretable information.
“The Marine Acoustics Data Knowledge Hub platform was created precisely to respond to this need: to help convert acoustic data into a common technical language capable of supporting decisions with greater rigour, reducing uncertainty, and facilitating a more coordinated management of underwater noise,” states Noelia Ortega, Director of CTN. In this way, “the platform acts as a gateway to solutions, resources, technical expertise, and specialised services for those who need to measure, justify, interpret, model, visualise, validate, or reduce the impact of underwater noise in seas and oceans,” Ortega concludes.
An international meeting point for the sector
CTN’s new hub is aimed at businesses, public administrations, environmental consultancies, engineering firms, offshore developers, port authorities, acoustic equipment manufacturers and integrators, universities, and research centres. Its objective is to generate an active community of users and facilitate access to technical resources, data, tools, webinars, use cases, collaborative opportunities, and specialised services relating to underwater noise management.
According to the developers of this tool, the platform is not conceived solely as a digital space, but as an international meeting point between industry, academia, public administration, and applied knowledge—a place to organise capabilities, connect needs, and enable different stakeholders to move forward using common criteria regarding an increasingly relevant environmental problem for the Blue Economy. The areas coordinated by the hub notably include the measurement and processing of acoustic signals, noise mapping, scenario modelling, marine fauna impact assessment, acoustic equipment calibration and characterisation, technical consultancy, support for mitigation measures, the development of advanced materials, and access to testing capabilities and specialised infrastructure.
Measuring well to decide better
Underwater noise management increasingly demands a solid technical foundation. In practice, the lack of global standardisation, the uneven calibration of equipment, the diversity of methodologies, and the complexity of models can hinder comparison between studies and weaken decision-making. Therefore, the platform focuses on a central idea: accumulating data is not enough; it is necessary to convert it into useful, comparable, and accessible information.
In this regard, CTN contributes calibration, monitoring, processing, modelling, visualisation, mitigation, and technical cooperation capabilities to the ecosystem. Its contribution aims to ensure that every piece of acoustic data can become a solid foundation for assessing impacts, designing campaigns, anticipating scenarios, defining mitigation measures, and supporting environmental, regulatory, and operational decisions. Thus, the Marine Acoustics Data Knowledge Hub aspires to bridge the gap between technical data and action, making it easier for organisations of all kinds to find the resource, tool, or service they need to address their challenges regarding underwater noise.
A tool aligned with CTN’s vision
With this initiative, the Marine Technology Centre consolidates its role as a meeting point for professionals from industry, academia, public administration, and the technological centre itself, who cooperate to develop innovative projects and high value-added technology to address the major challenges of the Blue Economy. The platform responds to a clear vision: marine sustainability does not solely depend on having more technology, but on building collaborative spaces where knowledge, measurement, validation, and decision-making can advance under common criteria.
At a time when underwater noise pollution is gaining greater relevance in port, energy, industrial, scientific, and environmental projects, CTN is committed to a model based on technical rigour, international cooperation, and applied technology transfer.
The Marine Acoustics Data Knowledge Hub platform is now available for organisations and professionals interested in discovering specialised resources, solutions, and services related to underwater noise on the website knoisehub.ctnaval.com .
About Marine Technology Centre
The Marine Technology Centre (CTN), based in the Region of Murcia and with over 20 years of experience, aims to be the meeting point where professionals from Industry, Academia, Public Administration, and the centre itself cooperate with the objective of developing innovative projects and high value-added technology to tackle the major challenges of the Blue Economy.
Image: CTN