Jerónimo Vida Manzano, José Antonio Almagro Pastor, R. Quesada, F. Aletta, T. Oberman, A. Mitchell, Jian Kang
Abstract Exceptional circumstances in the city of Granada due to the COVID-19 lockdown have provided the opportunity to characterise the impact of humans on its urban acoustic climate. Traditional environmental noise management and urban sound planning usually take into account noise sources in the city, such as industrial activities or road traffic noise, in model estimations, as well as in empirical research. But trying to isolate human impact by itself, human activity including social activity, walking, talking or just going around the city, has always been a difficult or even impossible task. The COVID-19 lockdown measures have provided the opportunity to study urban climate as never before, affected just by natural or animal noise sources. Previous soundscape research at some iconic sites in the city of Granada carried out in 2019 before the lockdown and a special measuring campaign carried out at the same locations during the lockdown in 2020 offered valuable information on sound levels and local characteristics in order to carry out this comparison. Results show a great change in environmental noise levels that is interesting not only because of its magnitude, but also for its implications, especially at those sites where social human activity was an identifying characteristic. Natural or animal sounds became surprisingly evident at some study sites, especially where road traffic noise dramatically decreased, leading to significantly lower background noise levels. Important spectral changes are observed before and during the lockdown, suggesting a shift from anthropic to animal sources in the acoustic environment.
{"title":"The “sound of silence” in Granada during the COVID-19 lockdown","authors":"Jerónimo Vida Manzano, José Antonio Almagro Pastor, R. Quesada, F. Aletta, T. Oberman, A. Mitchell, Jian Kang","doi":"10.1515/noise-2021-0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/noise-2021-0002","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Exceptional circumstances in the city of Granada due to the COVID-19 lockdown have provided the opportunity to characterise the impact of humans on its urban acoustic climate. Traditional environmental noise management and urban sound planning usually take into account noise sources in the city, such as industrial activities or road traffic noise, in model estimations, as well as in empirical research. But trying to isolate human impact by itself, human activity including social activity, walking, talking or just going around the city, has always been a difficult or even impossible task. The COVID-19 lockdown measures have provided the opportunity to study urban climate as never before, affected just by natural or animal noise sources. Previous soundscape research at some iconic sites in the city of Granada carried out in 2019 before the lockdown and a special measuring campaign carried out at the same locations during the lockdown in 2020 offered valuable information on sound levels and local characteristics in order to carry out this comparison. Results show a great change in environmental noise levels that is interesting not only because of its magnitude, but also for its implications, especially at those sites where social human activity was an identifying characteristic. Natural or animal sounds became surprisingly evident at some study sites, especially where road traffic noise dramatically decreased, leading to significantly lower background noise levels. Important spectral changes are observed before and during the lockdown, suggesting a shift from anthropic to animal sources in the acoustic environment.","PeriodicalId":44086,"journal":{"name":"Noise Mapping","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/noise-2021-0002","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45172116","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract As a scientific consequence of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, several initiatives have taken place in order to monitor noise levels trends before and after the lock down phase in several Italian and European cities. In Monza (Italy), since June 2017, a new smart noise monitoring system consisting of 10 sensors developed in the frame of the LIFE MONZA project is continuously measuring acoustic data every second and transmitting them hourly to a dedicated server. The sensors are located both along a main street of the Libertà district characterised by high traffic flows and along secondary streets of the district; they are positioned on (preferably sensitive) buildings facades and on streetlamps. In the present paper results of a study concerning changes occurred in noise levels trends before and during the lock down phase for the smart sensors are presented, together with a comparison with noise levels collected by the same sensors in the equivalent months of the previous year. Some preliminary considerations regarding the reliability of the sensors themselves are also provided.
{"title":"Noise monitoring in Monza (Italy) during COVID-19 pandemic by means of the smart network of sensors developed in the LIFE MONZA project","authors":"Chiara Bartalucci, Francesco Borchi, M. Carfagni","doi":"10.1515/noise-2020-0017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/noise-2020-0017","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract As a scientific consequence of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, several initiatives have taken place in order to monitor noise levels trends before and after the lock down phase in several Italian and European cities. In Monza (Italy), since June 2017, a new smart noise monitoring system consisting of 10 sensors developed in the frame of the LIFE MONZA project is continuously measuring acoustic data every second and transmitting them hourly to a dedicated server. The sensors are located both along a main street of the Libertà district characterised by high traffic flows and along secondary streets of the district; they are positioned on (preferably sensitive) buildings facades and on streetlamps. In the present paper results of a study concerning changes occurred in noise levels trends before and during the lock down phase for the smart sensors are presented, together with a comparison with noise levels collected by the same sensors in the equivalent months of the previous year. Some preliminary considerations regarding the reliability of the sensors themselves are also provided.","PeriodicalId":44086,"journal":{"name":"Noise Mapping","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/noise-2020-0017","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46063013","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
C. Riboldi, L. Trainelli, L. Mariani, A. Rolando, F. Salucci
Abstract In the quest for the reduction of noise pollution, novel hybrid-electric or fully-electric power-trains promise to provide a substantial contribution. Especially closer to airfields, where acceptability issues tend to limit air operations with conventional fuel-burning engines, such novel power-trains allow to fly terminal maneuvers with a dramatically reduced impact on pollution. Considering the General Aviation (GA) field, where such new types of propulsion are more likely to gain a significant market share thanks to their favorable characteristics for this weight category, the reduction of the noise impact on ground may increase the infrastructural value of smaller airfields, often located in densely populated areas. This in turn would help in making novel power-train technologies economically advantageous at a system level. Despite these evident advantages, a methodology to quantify noise emissions of a novel type of power-train has not been identified yet – a fundamental step towards the assessment of the potential contribution of hybrid-electric or fully-electric aircraft to the global scenario of future aviation. This work introduces and discusses a possible procedure to provide such estimation. While mainly focused on the field of propeller-driven GA aircraft, the procedure presented herein can be easily scaled to cope with the specific features of heavier categories.
{"title":"Predicting the effect of electric and hybrid-electric aviation on acoustic pollution","authors":"C. Riboldi, L. Trainelli, L. Mariani, A. Rolando, F. Salucci","doi":"10.1515/noise-2020-0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/noise-2020-0004","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In the quest for the reduction of noise pollution, novel hybrid-electric or fully-electric power-trains promise to provide a substantial contribution. Especially closer to airfields, where acceptability issues tend to limit air operations with conventional fuel-burning engines, such novel power-trains allow to fly terminal maneuvers with a dramatically reduced impact on pollution. Considering the General Aviation (GA) field, where such new types of propulsion are more likely to gain a significant market share thanks to their favorable characteristics for this weight category, the reduction of the noise impact on ground may increase the infrastructural value of smaller airfields, often located in densely populated areas. This in turn would help in making novel power-train technologies economically advantageous at a system level. Despite these evident advantages, a methodology to quantify noise emissions of a novel type of power-train has not been identified yet – a fundamental step towards the assessment of the potential contribution of hybrid-electric or fully-electric aircraft to the global scenario of future aviation. This work introduces and discusses a possible procedure to provide such estimation. While mainly focused on the field of propeller-driven GA aircraft, the procedure presented herein can be easily scaled to cope with the specific features of heavier categories.","PeriodicalId":44086,"journal":{"name":"Noise Mapping","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/noise-2020-0004","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43962242","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alberto E. García-Rivero, R. Yuli-Posadas, Warren Reátegui Romero, O. Sánchez-Ccoyllo, Wilfredo Bulege-Gutierrez, Humberto Guillermo Garayar Tasayco, Victor Fernández-Gusmán
Abstract The present study is intended to get to know the levels of perimeter diurnal environmental noise of four hospitals in the city of Lima. The measurement mode used at each hospital was A-weighting, with an integration time of five minutes per recording. It was measured in the FAST mode with calibrations made at the beginning and end of the measurement day. Statistical analysis consisted of the mean comparison T test which was applied at all the hospitals considered in the study. At the four hospitals, at all the hours of measurement and both on working days and non-working days (Sunday), LAeq mean values are higher than 83 dBA. On working days, two periods of maximum noise from 08:00 to 10:00 in the morning and from 17:00 to 19:00 in the afternoon coincide with the start and end of working hours. The perimeter diurnal environmental noise levels determined at the vicinity of four hospitals show higher values in all cases to those established by the Peruvian National Environmental Standards for Noise for special protection areas both for working days and for non-working days. Noise that comes from the dense and disorganized traffic of Lima plays a fundamental role in this behaviour.
{"title":"Daytime perimeter environmental noise in the vicinity of four hospitals in the city of Lima, Peru","authors":"Alberto E. García-Rivero, R. Yuli-Posadas, Warren Reátegui Romero, O. Sánchez-Ccoyllo, Wilfredo Bulege-Gutierrez, Humberto Guillermo Garayar Tasayco, Victor Fernández-Gusmán","doi":"10.1515/noise-2020-0020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/noise-2020-0020","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The present study is intended to get to know the levels of perimeter diurnal environmental noise of four hospitals in the city of Lima. The measurement mode used at each hospital was A-weighting, with an integration time of five minutes per recording. It was measured in the FAST mode with calibrations made at the beginning and end of the measurement day. Statistical analysis consisted of the mean comparison T test which was applied at all the hospitals considered in the study. At the four hospitals, at all the hours of measurement and both on working days and non-working days (Sunday), LAeq mean values are higher than 83 dBA. On working days, two periods of maximum noise from 08:00 to 10:00 in the morning and from 17:00 to 19:00 in the afternoon coincide with the start and end of working hours. The perimeter diurnal environmental noise levels determined at the vicinity of four hospitals show higher values in all cases to those established by the Peruvian National Environmental Standards for Noise for special protection areas both for working days and for non-working days. Noise that comes from the dense and disorganized traffic of Lima plays a fundamental role in this behaviour.","PeriodicalId":44086,"journal":{"name":"Noise Mapping","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/noise-2020-0020","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45262185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Road traffic noise has been recognized as a serious issue that affects the urban regions. Due to urbanization and industrialization, transportation in urban areas has increased. Traffic noise characteristics in cities belonging to a developing country like India are highly varied compared to developed nations because of its heterogeneous conditions. The objective of the research study is to assess noise pollution due to heterogeneous traffic conditions and the impact of horn honking due to un-authorized parked vehicles on the main roadside. Noise mapping has been done using the computer simulation model by taking various noise sources and noise propagation to the receiver point. Traffic volume, vehicular speed, noise levels, road geometry, un-authorized parking, and horn honking were measured on tier-II city roads in Surat, India. The study showed not so significant correlation between traffic volume, road geometry, vehicular speed and equivalent noise due to heterogeneous road traffic conditions. Further, analysis of traffic noise showed that horn honking due to un-authorized parked vehicles contributed an additional up to 11 dB (A), which is quite significant. The prediction models such as U.K’s CoRTN, U.S’s TNM, Germany’s RLS-90 and their modified versions have limited applicability for heterogeneity. Hence, the noise prediction models, which can be used for homogeneous road traffic conditions are not successfully applicable in heterogeneous road traffic conditions. In this research, a new horn honking correction factor is introduced with respect to unauthorized parked vehicles. The horn honking correction values can be integrated into noise model RLS-90, while assessing heterogeneous traffic conditions.
{"title":"Integrated road traffic noise mapping in urban Indian context","authors":"Dipeshkumar R. Sonaviya, B. Tandel","doi":"10.1515/noise-2020-0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/noise-2020-0009","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Road traffic noise has been recognized as a serious issue that affects the urban regions. Due to urbanization and industrialization, transportation in urban areas has increased. Traffic noise characteristics in cities belonging to a developing country like India are highly varied compared to developed nations because of its heterogeneous conditions. The objective of the research study is to assess noise pollution due to heterogeneous traffic conditions and the impact of horn honking due to un-authorized parked vehicles on the main roadside. Noise mapping has been done using the computer simulation model by taking various noise sources and noise propagation to the receiver point. Traffic volume, vehicular speed, noise levels, road geometry, un-authorized parking, and horn honking were measured on tier-II city roads in Surat, India. The study showed not so significant correlation between traffic volume, road geometry, vehicular speed and equivalent noise due to heterogeneous road traffic conditions. Further, analysis of traffic noise showed that horn honking due to un-authorized parked vehicles contributed an additional up to 11 dB (A), which is quite significant. The prediction models such as U.K’s CoRTN, U.S’s TNM, Germany’s RLS-90 and their modified versions have limited applicability for heterogeneity. Hence, the noise prediction models, which can be used for homogeneous road traffic conditions are not successfully applicable in heterogeneous road traffic conditions. In this research, a new horn honking correction factor is introduced with respect to unauthorized parked vehicles. The horn honking correction values can be integrated into noise model RLS-90, while assessing heterogeneous traffic conditions.","PeriodicalId":44086,"journal":{"name":"Noise Mapping","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/noise-2020-0009","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48939812","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
F. Aletta, T. Oberman, A. Mitchell, Huan Tong, Jian Kang
Abstract The implementation of lockdown measures due to the COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in wide-ranging social and environmental implications. Among the environmental impacts is a decrease in urban noise levels which has so far been observed at the city scale via noise mapping efforts conducted through the framework of the Environmental Noise Directive. This study aims to understand how lockdown measures have manifested at a local level to better determine how the person-level experience of the urban soundscape has been affected and how these affects differ across urban space typologies. Taking London as a case study, a series of 30-second binaural recordings were taken at 11 locations representing a cross-section of urban public spaces with varying compositions of sound sources during Spring 2019 (pre-lockdown, N = 620) and Spring 2020 (during-lockdown, N = 481). Five acoustic and psychoacoustic metrics (LAeq, LA10, LA90, Loudness, Sharpness) were calculated for each recording and their changes from the pre-lockdown scenario to the lockdown scenario are investigated. Clustering analysis was performed which grouped the locations into 3 types of urban settings based on their acoustic characteristics. An average reduction of 5.4 dB (LAeq) was observed, however significant differences in the degree of reduction were found across the locations, ranging from a 10.7 dB to a 1.2 dB reduction. This study confirms the general reduction in noise levels due to the nationally imposed lockdown measures, identifies trends which vary depending on the urban context and discusses the implications for the limits of urban noise reduction.
{"title":"Assessing the changing urban sound environment during the COVID-19 lockdown period using short-term acoustic measurements","authors":"F. Aletta, T. Oberman, A. Mitchell, Huan Tong, Jian Kang","doi":"10.1515/noise-2020-0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/noise-2020-0011","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The implementation of lockdown measures due to the COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in wide-ranging social and environmental implications. Among the environmental impacts is a decrease in urban noise levels which has so far been observed at the city scale via noise mapping efforts conducted through the framework of the Environmental Noise Directive. This study aims to understand how lockdown measures have manifested at a local level to better determine how the person-level experience of the urban soundscape has been affected and how these affects differ across urban space typologies. Taking London as a case study, a series of 30-second binaural recordings were taken at 11 locations representing a cross-section of urban public spaces with varying compositions of sound sources during Spring 2019 (pre-lockdown, N = 620) and Spring 2020 (during-lockdown, N = 481). Five acoustic and psychoacoustic metrics (LAeq, LA10, LA90, Loudness, Sharpness) were calculated for each recording and their changes from the pre-lockdown scenario to the lockdown scenario are investigated. Clustering analysis was performed which grouped the locations into 3 types of urban settings based on their acoustic characteristics. An average reduction of 5.4 dB (LAeq) was observed, however significant differences in the degree of reduction were found across the locations, ranging from a 10.7 dB to a 1.2 dB reduction. This study confirms the general reduction in noise levels due to the nationally imposed lockdown measures, identifies trends which vary depending on the urban context and discusses the implications for the limits of urban noise reduction.","PeriodicalId":44086,"journal":{"name":"Noise Mapping","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/noise-2020-0011","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49297243","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. Pilicic, I. Kegalj, Eirini Tserga, T. Milošević, R. Žigulić, Ante Skoblar, L. Traven
Abstract Although noise dispersion models are widely used for the assessment of noise levels across different domains, the influence of meteorological conditions on environmental noise is usually neglected even though modelling requirements often list meteorological data as a key part for conducting successful modelling exercises. In order to evaluate the magnitude of influence of meteorological conditions on noise dispersion, different meteorological scenarios have been tested. The meteorological parameters that have been addressed include wind speed and direction, air temperature and atmospheric pressure. The simulations have been performed using data obtained from the Port of Thessaloniki, which include standard noise data (locations of noise sources and barriers, noise power levels of individual sources), as well as yearly averages and extremes for the meteorological parameters. Wind speed and direction have been shown to have a major influence on environmental noise levels. The modelled difference in levels due to changes in wind speed and direction reached 7 dB in several receivers indicating an effect that should not be neglected. Air temperature and atmospheric pressure had very little influence on noise levels. In conclusion, when addressing and modelling environmental noise levels, wind speed and direction must be properly accounted for and should not be neglected.
{"title":"Influence of meteorological conditions on noise dispersion in the Port of Thessaloniki","authors":"S. Pilicic, I. Kegalj, Eirini Tserga, T. Milošević, R. Žigulić, Ante Skoblar, L. Traven","doi":"10.1515/noise-2020-0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/noise-2020-0012","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Although noise dispersion models are widely used for the assessment of noise levels across different domains, the influence of meteorological conditions on environmental noise is usually neglected even though modelling requirements often list meteorological data as a key part for conducting successful modelling exercises. In order to evaluate the magnitude of influence of meteorological conditions on noise dispersion, different meteorological scenarios have been tested. The meteorological parameters that have been addressed include wind speed and direction, air temperature and atmospheric pressure. The simulations have been performed using data obtained from the Port of Thessaloniki, which include standard noise data (locations of noise sources and barriers, noise power levels of individual sources), as well as yearly averages and extremes for the meteorological parameters. Wind speed and direction have been shown to have a major influence on environmental noise levels. The modelled difference in levels due to changes in wind speed and direction reached 7 dB in several receivers indicating an effect that should not be neglected. Air temperature and atmospheric pressure had very little influence on noise levels. In conclusion, when addressing and modelling environmental noise levels, wind speed and direction must be properly accounted for and should not be neglected.","PeriodicalId":44086,"journal":{"name":"Noise Mapping","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/noise-2020-0012","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43503581","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Patricio Muñoz, Bruno Vincent, C. Domergue, Vincent Gissinger, S. Guillot, Yann Halbwachs, Valérie Janillon
Abstract Acoucité¹, centre of expertise in environmental acoustics and observatory of the sound environment, has investigated the changes in sound environment and its perception during the French lockdown period. The approach adopted is multidimensional, since it combines long-term acoustic measurements, large area noise mapping, as well as the study of sound perception self-reported by population sample through an on-line structured questionnaire. Data from 21 continuous sound monitoring stations² were analysed for the entire lockdown period in five conurbations in the south of France and compared to typical values in the “normal” situation (before lockdown) in order to quantify the reduction in terms of sound levels. Reductions from 4 dB to 6 dB (Lden) were observed for monitoring stations with highly dominant road noise. These results were used to obtain new Strategic Noise Maps for road noise (corresponding to the lockdown situation) for the conurbations of Lyon and Grenoble. The impact of such reductions in terms of noise exposure of their inhabitants was thus assessed. An estimation of the impact on health effects in comparison with the “normal” situation (Strategic Noise Maps “Round 3 CE-DE-2002”) was also carried out. This estimation considers a scenario where the above level reductions (4 to 6 dB) would take place in the long-term. An on-line perception questionnaire was available during the lockdown period with the aim of gathering information on the way that the changes in sound environment were perceived by people all over France and ended up with more than 3000 respondents. This paper reports the main findings of the study in terms of acoustics and sound perception.
{"title":"Lockdown during COVID-19 pandemic: impact on road traffic noise and on the perception of sound environment in France","authors":"Patricio Muñoz, Bruno Vincent, C. Domergue, Vincent Gissinger, S. Guillot, Yann Halbwachs, Valérie Janillon","doi":"10.1515/noise-2020-0024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/noise-2020-0024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Acoucité¹, centre of expertise in environmental acoustics and observatory of the sound environment, has investigated the changes in sound environment and its perception during the French lockdown period. The approach adopted is multidimensional, since it combines long-term acoustic measurements, large area noise mapping, as well as the study of sound perception self-reported by population sample through an on-line structured questionnaire. Data from 21 continuous sound monitoring stations² were analysed for the entire lockdown period in five conurbations in the south of France and compared to typical values in the “normal” situation (before lockdown) in order to quantify the reduction in terms of sound levels. Reductions from 4 dB to 6 dB (Lden) were observed for monitoring stations with highly dominant road noise. These results were used to obtain new Strategic Noise Maps for road noise (corresponding to the lockdown situation) for the conurbations of Lyon and Grenoble. The impact of such reductions in terms of noise exposure of their inhabitants was thus assessed. An estimation of the impact on health effects in comparison with the “normal” situation (Strategic Noise Maps “Round 3 CE-DE-2002”) was also carried out. This estimation considers a scenario where the above level reductions (4 to 6 dB) would take place in the long-term. An on-line perception questionnaire was available during the lockdown period with the aim of gathering information on the way that the changes in sound environment were perceived by people all over France and ended up with more than 3000 respondents. This paper reports the main findings of the study in terms of acoustics and sound perception.","PeriodicalId":44086,"journal":{"name":"Noise Mapping","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/noise-2020-0024","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44517491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract In a preceding report (UCL Open: Environment, 2020;1;6), an example of results on changes in the acoustic environment from a local-scale survey in a quiet residential area during and after the ‘state of emergency’ due to COVID-19 pandemic in Japan is presented: the noise level was 1–2 dBA lower during the state of emergency, which is smaller than reported from large cities. This note presents the results of a follow-up survey in the same area to provide some more examples to gain an insight into the acoustic environment in this area. In this note, the measurement results of noise levels in June 2020, a few weeks after the cancellation of the state of emergency, are mainly reported. As the results are almost the same as those from during the state of emergency, we can infer that either the noise level was reduced in June to a level that was almost the same as that during the state of emergency, or the noise level after its cancellation in May was possibly higher than usual. In either case, the change in noise level was small, and it was difficult to conclude which case was true.
{"title":"A note on the acoustic environment in a usually quiet residential area after the ‘state of emergency’ declaration due to COVID-19 pandemic in Japan was lifted: supplementary survey results in post-emergency situations","authors":"K. Sakagami","doi":"10.1515/noise-2020-0016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/noise-2020-0016","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In a preceding report (UCL Open: Environment, 2020;1;6), an example of results on changes in the acoustic environment from a local-scale survey in a quiet residential area during and after the ‘state of emergency’ due to COVID-19 pandemic in Japan is presented: the noise level was 1–2 dBA lower during the state of emergency, which is smaller than reported from large cities. This note presents the results of a follow-up survey in the same area to provide some more examples to gain an insight into the acoustic environment in this area. In this note, the measurement results of noise levels in June 2020, a few weeks after the cancellation of the state of emergency, are mainly reported. As the results are almost the same as those from during the state of emergency, we can infer that either the noise level was reduced in June to a level that was almost the same as that during the state of emergency, or the noise level after its cancellation in May was possibly higher than usual. In either case, the change in noise level was small, and it was difficult to conclude which case was true.","PeriodicalId":44086,"journal":{"name":"Noise Mapping","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/noise-2020-0016","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46549824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Alani, Olajomi Mary Ogunmoyela, C. Okolie, O. Daramola
Abstract Noise is an inevitable part of daily life and has been identified as a cause of several health deficiencies across the world. It has increasingly become a significant concern on the health and well-being of people. Studies are required to advance knowledge on the sources and impacts of noise in residential neighbourhoods of Lagos State, Nigeria. Therefore, this study assesses the spatial variation of noise levels within a section of the Festac residential area in Lagos in line with noise limits specified by the World Bank Group International Finance Corporation (IFC) Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Guidelines and the Nigerian National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) Noise Standards and Control guidelines for community noise. Data for this research come from a field study comprising measurements of noise levels from 6 observation stations and questionnaire survey with 200 respondents. The criteria for siting the stations was based on factors such as proximity to the roadside, land use and population density, while the questionnaire was administered at random to assess the peoples’ level of awareness on the sources and effects of noise. A digital sound level meter was used to measure noise level variations over a period of 3 weeks for morning, afternoon and evening periods. The measured noise levels were analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) statistics and the Kriging Geostatistical interpolation technique. Also, logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between the respondents’ perceptions to noise and noise levels. The results indicated that the mean noise levels were within the approximate range of 53.5 – 94.0dBA over the entire period. The highest mean noise levels occurred in the north-western part of the study area where a bus park is present. In general, the noise levels in the area surpass the recommended noise limit of 55dBA, and the logistic regression showed that morning, afternoon and evening mean noise levels were significant predictors of noise variation as perceived by the dwellers. Proper legislation to regulate human activities with respect to noise generation is highly recommended to the local, state and national legislators.
{"title":"Geospatial analysis of environmental noise levels in a residential area in Lagos, Nigeria","authors":"R. Alani, Olajomi Mary Ogunmoyela, C. Okolie, O. Daramola","doi":"10.1515/noise-2020-0019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/noise-2020-0019","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Noise is an inevitable part of daily life and has been identified as a cause of several health deficiencies across the world. It has increasingly become a significant concern on the health and well-being of people. Studies are required to advance knowledge on the sources and impacts of noise in residential neighbourhoods of Lagos State, Nigeria. Therefore, this study assesses the spatial variation of noise levels within a section of the Festac residential area in Lagos in line with noise limits specified by the World Bank Group International Finance Corporation (IFC) Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Guidelines and the Nigerian National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) Noise Standards and Control guidelines for community noise. Data for this research come from a field study comprising measurements of noise levels from 6 observation stations and questionnaire survey with 200 respondents. The criteria for siting the stations was based on factors such as proximity to the roadside, land use and population density, while the questionnaire was administered at random to assess the peoples’ level of awareness on the sources and effects of noise. A digital sound level meter was used to measure noise level variations over a period of 3 weeks for morning, afternoon and evening periods. The measured noise levels were analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) statistics and the Kriging Geostatistical interpolation technique. Also, logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between the respondents’ perceptions to noise and noise levels. The results indicated that the mean noise levels were within the approximate range of 53.5 – 94.0dBA over the entire period. The highest mean noise levels occurred in the north-western part of the study area where a bus park is present. In general, the noise levels in the area surpass the recommended noise limit of 55dBA, and the logistic regression showed that morning, afternoon and evening mean noise levels were significant predictors of noise variation as perceived by the dwellers. Proper legislation to regulate human activities with respect to noise generation is highly recommended to the local, state and national legislators.","PeriodicalId":44086,"journal":{"name":"Noise Mapping","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/noise-2020-0019","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44138099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}