Abstract
Noise generated by offshore wind turbines and support structures radiates and propagates through the air, water and sediment. Predicting noise levels around wind turbine structures at sea is required to estimate the effects of the noise on marine life. We used Finite Element(FE) and Parabolic Equation (PE) models to predict long range propagation of noise from the construction and operation of offshore wind turbines.FEanalysis produced pressure outputs at short ranges were used as a starting field for a modified PE propagation model. Furthermore, we investigated the optimum range for the transition to PE modeling. The effects of various sediment types were also considered determining the pressure starting field. In FEanalysis models, we implemented the axisymmetric elements and implicit dynamic analysis with pressureimpact loading and vertical acceleration boundary conditions to simulate pile driving and operational noise radiation. We will present the PE long range pressure field outputs from the offshore pile driving and operation for a shallow water environment around Block Island, Rhode Island.