About
Professor Paul White is Professor of Statistical Signal Processing within Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Southampton.
"Sound plays a vital role in the lives of marine mammals; understanding how they use acoustics provides inspiration for man-made systems, whilst monitoring the impact of man-made noise is important for their conservation."
Paul is Professor of Statistical Signal Processing in the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR).
Having obtained a BSc in Mathematics in 1985, Paul moved along the south coast to Southampton to undertake his PhD at the University of Southampton, becoming a lecturer in ISVR in 1988 and was awarded his Chair in 2004.
You can update this in Pure (opens in a new tab). Select ‘Edit profile’. Under the heading and then ‘Curriculum and research description’, select ‘Add profile information’. In the dropdown menu, select - ‘About’.
Write about yourself in the third person. Aim for 100 to 150 words covering the main points about who you are and what you currently do. Clear, simple language is best. You can include specialist or technical terms.
You’ll be able to add details about your research, publications, career and academic history to other sections of your staff profile.
Research
Research interests
- Signal processing
- Underwater acoustics and bioacoustics (the way animals, especially marine mammals, use sound)
- The processing of calls of marine mammals
- Underwater noise
- Fish acoustics
Current research
Paul is primarily concerned with developing tools to assist in the computer-aided analysis of underwater sounds and understanding the role of those sounds in the marine environment.
Acoustics, in the form of sonar, is an important tool for the exploration of the marine environment. It is used by the seismic industry to locate oil and gas reserves, by the military to detect objects, by oceanographers to make measurements and by marine mammals to survive.
Man-made underwater acoustic systems rely upon computers to process the data coming from sensors to interpret the environment. The processing methods within the computer systems are a critical component often defining the overall success of the instrument.
Zero Leakage 2050
UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR), working in partnership with others, has taken a lead in the development of the water research agenda in the UK and Ireland by defining a strategic research programme to address the key challenges facing the industry, now and in the future. In the ISVR at Southampton University, we are working on one of the 12 Big Research Questions, ‘How will we achieve zero leakage in a sustainable way by 2050?’. In particular, in ISVR, we are looking at the fundamental research required to take Acoustic Leak Detection to a whole new level.
Detecting leaks from undersea gas pipelines, seabed methane reserves, and carbon capture and storage facilities
Do dolphins think nonlinearly?
The sounds of voices and waterfalls on other planets
Whales hunt with wall of sound
Dolphin-inspired radar for finding bombs, bugs and catastrophe victims
World's first experiment tests for leaks from carbon capture and storage seabed facilities
Are some people suffering as a result of increasing mass exposure of the public to ultrasound in air?
Man-made underwater sound may have wider ecosystem effects than previously thought
Signal Processing for Whale and Dolphin Vocalisations
This page describes the research project on signal processing for whale and dolphin vocalisations.
Humpback whale song analysis
Combining Steady state and Transient Methods for Acoustic Leak Detection
The effects of sound on fish
A number of studies have determined how fish respond to various sounds, to provide the basic knowledge needed to protect fish, and design ‘acoustic scarecrows’. This work is led by the International Centre for Ecohydraulics Research (ICER) (Prof Kemp), with Prof White and Prof Leighton from ISVR providing the acoustics input.
Signal processing for underwater acoustics
You can update the information for this section in Pure (opens in a new tab).
Research groups
Any research groups you belong to will automatically appear on your profile. Speak to your line manager if these are incorrect. Please do not raise a ticket in Ask HR.
Research interests
Add up to 5 research interests. The first 3 will appear in your staff profile next to your name. The full list will appear on your research page. Keep these brief and focus on the keywords people may use when searching for your work. Use a different line for each one.
In Pure (opens in a new tab), select ‘Edit profile’. Under the heading 'Curriculum and research description', select 'Add profile information'. In the dropdown menu, select 'Research interests: use separate lines'.
Current research
Update this in Pure (opens in a new tab). Select ‘Edit profile’ and then ‘Curriculum and research description - Current research’.
Describe your current research in 100 to 200 words. Write in the third person. Include broad key terms to help people discover your work, for example, “sustainability” or “fashion textiles”.
Research projects
Research Council funded projects will automatically appear here. The active project name is taken from the finance system.
Publications
Public outputs that list you as an author will appear here, once they’re validated by the ePrints Team. If you’re missing any outputs that you’ve added to Pure, they may be waiting for validation.
Supervision
Current PhD Students
Contact your Faculty Operating Service team to update PhD students you supervise and any you’ve previously supervised. Making this information available will help potential PhD applicants to find you.
Teaching
A short description of your teaching interests and responsibilities.
This section will only display on your public profile if you’ve added content.
You can update your teaching description in Pure (opens in a new tab). Select ‘Edit profile’. Under the heading and then ‘Curriculum and research description’ , select ‘Add profile information’. In the dropdown menu, select – ‘Teaching Interests’. Describe your teaching interests and your current responsibilities. Aim for 200 words maximum.
Courses and modules
Contact the Curriculum and Quality Assurance (CQA) team for your faculty to update this section.
External roles and responsibilities
You can update your external roles and responsibilities in Pure (opens in a new tab). Select ‘+ Add content’ and then ‘Activity’, your ‘Personal’ tab and then ‘Activities’. Choose which activities you want to show on your public profile.
You can hide activities from your public profile. Set the visibility as 'Backend' to only show this information within Pure, or 'Confidential' to make it visible only to you.
Biography
A chance to go into more detail about your work and interests.
This section will only display on your public profile if you’ve added content.
You can update your biography section in Pure (opens in a new tab). Select your ‘Personal’ tab then ‘Edit profile’. Under the heading, and ‘Curriculum and research description’, select ‘Add profile information’. In the dropdown menu, select - ‘Biography’. Aim for no more than 400 words.
This section will only appear if you enter the information into Pure (opens in a new tab).
Prizes
You can update this section in Pure (opens in a new tab). Select ‘+Add content’ and then ‘Prize’. using the ‘Prizes’ section.
You can choose to hide prizes from your public profile. Set the visibility as ‘Backend’ to only show this information within Pure, or ‘Confidential’ to make it visible only to you.