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Description
The preservation of highly biodiverse acoustic environments is of critical importance given the rapid global decline of natural ecosystems. This paper presents Sonic Selva, an open-access, spatial audio dataset that captured the acoustic baselines of Venezuelan rainforests and savannas in 2024. A calibrated industrial binaural measurement system (HEAD acoustics SQobold with BHS II) and a 3rd-order Ambisonics microphone (Zylia ZM-1) were deployed. This paper details the methodological workflow across 62 measurement locations, incorporating 23 hours of 3rd-order Ambisonic and 14 hours of calibrated binaural recordings. The data is augmented by detailed measurement metadata and 3 hours of synchronized 360° video, providing a comprehensive contextual and visual ground truth for each measurement, as well as over 71 hours of continuous extended-duration Ambisonic recordings, capturing a full diel cycle as well as critical diurnal and nocturnal transitions.This paper highlights the procedures used to conduct the measurements, technical challenges encountered when operating acoustic equipment in tropical extremes as well as the overall structure of the dataset. Furthermore, the application of hardware-specific noise profiles characterized in an anechoic chamber to mitigate self-noise and restore the psychoacoustic fidelity of low-level soundscapes is examined. The resulting dataset provides a robust, open-access resource for psychoacoustic evaluation, bio-acoustic monitoring, machine learning, virtual spatial soundscape reconstruction and investigations into the effects of Neotropical soundscapes on human emotion and health.