UNS Exterior Spatial Sound Events Dataset for Urban Monitoring

This paper presents the UNS-Exterior Spatial Sound Events 2023 (UNS-ESSE2023) dataset, which is targeted for applications related to monitoring urban environments. The dataset comprises spatial recordings collected outdoors in real acoustic environments by playing ambience and target sound samples with eight speakers placed circularly around the micro-phone array. The target sound events are three anomaly sounds (gunshot, boom (explosion), and shatter), specifically selected as examples of unexpected sound events in the context of monitoring urban spaces. The dataset is evaluated using the sound event detection and localization baseline system from the DCASE2023 challenge. The model was fine-tuned for the dataset to introduce a benchmark for sound event localization and detection in exterior acoustic environments. Comparisons are also made with similar outcomes from the STARS22 dataset, a reference dataset for the SELD task in interior conditions. Results are presented using information about the different levels of signal-to-noise ratio and ambience sound pressure levels, showcasing the complexity of the dataset.