Vireo Initiative acoustic data

The Vireo initiative provides an ambient dataset collected in suburban forest preserves in the Greater Chicago area. The data is specialized for classification and analysis of suburban environments. Recordings were made in scheduled modes at 18 sites in 3 major locations and collected in 2026, capturing the full acoustic environment of these preserves rather than a curated subset of target signals. Because the recordings are raw aside from the modification of any human speech, the dataset captures the layered soundscape characteristic of suburban greenspace: avian and insect vocalizations, wind and vegetation noise, and anthropogenic sound including road and aircraft traffic, recreational activity, and human speech while preserving anonymity. This composition is what makes the material suitable for soundscape ecology, studies of anthrophony and biophony dynamics, acoustic indices, and environmental sound classification. Please note that any modifications were performed using automated processing and detected human speech segments are anonymized through targeted formant modification. Furthermore, automated detection is imperfect, if you notice any unnecessary blurring or issues please contact us at [e-mail].