Advances in the development of common noise assessment methods in Europe: The CNOSSOS-EU framework for strategic environmental noise mapping

This paper presents results of an ongoing project which aims to develop a purpose-built platform for using smart phones as alternative to sound level meters for citizen-science based environment noise assessment. In order to manage and control environmental noise effectively, the extent of the problem must first be quantified. Across the world, strategic noise maps are used to assess the impact of environmental noise in cities. Traditionally, these maps are developed using predictive techniques, but some authors have advocated the use of noise measurements to develop more reliable and robust noise maps. If adopted correctly, smartphones have the capability to revolutionize the manner in which environmental noise assessments are performed. The development of smartphone technology, and its impact on environmental noise studies, has recently begun to receive attention in the academic literature. Recent research has assessed the capability of existing smartphone applications (apps) to be utilized as an alternative low-cost solution to traditional noise monitoring. Results show that the accuracy of current noise measurement apps varies widely relative to pre-specified reference levels. The high degree of measurement variability associated with such apps renders their robustness questionable in their current state. Further work is required to assess how smartphones with mobile apps may be used in the field and what limitations may be associated with their use. To over come the above issues, this project is developing a platform specifically for citizen science noise assessment. The platform consists of a smartphone app that acquires a sound signal and transfers the data to a server via a web based API for post processing purposes. This then returns key information to the user, as well as logging the data for use in a massive noise mapping study. The structure of the proposed platform maintains a clear separation between client (phone) and server. This approach will allow implementation of future open source client side apps for both Android and iOS operating systems.

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Acoustics. Impulse sound propagation for environmental noise assessment

10.3403/02785008u ◽

2015 ◽

Keyword(s):

Sound Propagation ◽

Environmental Noise ◽

Noise Assessment

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Integrating environmental noise considerations into public policy: the case of Ireland

INTER-NOISE and NOISE-CON Congress and Conference Proceedings ◽

10.3397/in-2021-2340 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 263 (3) ◽

pp. 3218-3222

Author(s):

Jon Paul Faulkner ◽

Enda Murphy

Keyword(s):

Noise Exposure ◽

Environmental Noise ◽

Management Policy ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Noise Mapping ◽

Current Application ◽

Eu Member States ◽

Mapping Process ◽

Irish Case ◽

Harmful Effects

European Commission Directive (EU) 2020/367 describes how harmful effects from environmental noise exposure are to be calculated for ischemic heart disease (IHD), high annoyance (HA), and high sleep disturbance (HSD) for road, rail, and aircraft noise under the Environmental Noise Directive's (END) strategic noise mapping process. It represents a major development in understanding the extent of exposure from transport-based environmental noise given it is a legal requirement for all EU member states from the 2022 reporting round. It also has the potential to accelerate the development of stronger noise-health policies across the EU. While this development is to be welcomed, there are a number of basic noise-health policy applications that first need to be implemented in the Irish case if the noise-health situation is be accurately assessed and if public health is to be adequately protected. In order to address this requirement the following paper presents concrete policy and practice recommendations as well as an evaluation of the current application of noise management policy in Ireland which is administered to protect the public from the harmful effects of environmental noise. This paper provides guidance on how noise-health considerations can be integrated into key relevant areas of Irish policy including healthcare, the environment, transportation, and planning.

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Umgebungslärmrichtlinie in Schleswig-Holstein/Environmental Noise Directive in Schleswig-Holstein

Lärmbekämpfung ◽

10.37544/1863-4672-2019-06-10 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (06) ◽

pp. 184-189

Author(s):

L. Gliesmann ◽

A. Brückner

Keyword(s):

Federal Government ◽

Environmental Noise ◽

Action Plans ◽

Noise Mapping ◽

The Third ◽

Current List

Die dritte Runde der Umgebungslärmrichtlinie 2002/49/EG [1] wird mit der Lärmkartierung 2017 und der aktuellen, in Schleswig-Holstein (SH) noch nicht vollständig abgeschlossenen Aufstellung der Lärmaktionspläne umgesetzt. Die Zuständigkeit für die Ausarbeitung der Lärmkarten und für die Aufstellung der Aktionspläne liegt in SH gemäß § 47 e Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz [2] bei den Gemeinden. Dem Land obliegt die Berichterstattung an die Bundesregierung.   The third round of the Environmental Noise Directive 2002/49/ ED [1] will be implemented with noise mapping 2017 and the current list of noise action plans, which has not yet been completed in Schleswig-Holstein (SH). The responsibility for the development of the noise maps and for the preparation of the action plans lies in SH according to § 47 e Federal Immission Control Act [2] in the municipalities. The country is responsible for the reporting to the Federal Government.

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Practical Methods of Environmental Noise Assessment

Community Noise ◽

10.1520/stp35972s ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 217-217-11

Author(s):

JW McGaughey ◽

EE Dennison ◽

SP Ying

Keyword(s):

Environmental Noise ◽

Noise Assessment

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Combining VR Visualization and Sonification for Immersive Exploration of Urban Noise Standards

Multimodal Technologies and Interaction ◽

10.3390/mti3020034 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 34 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Markus Berger ◽

Ralf Bill

Keyword(s):

Real Time ◽

Sound Propagation ◽

Road Traffic ◽

Expert Knowledge ◽

Low Cost ◽

Traffic Noise ◽

Urban Traffic ◽

Road Traffic Noise ◽

Common Noise ◽

Noise Assessment

Urban traffic noise situations are usually visualized as conventional 2D maps or 3D scenes. These representations are indispensable tools to inform decision makers and citizens about issues of health, safety, and quality of life but require expert knowledge in order to be properly understood and put into context. The subjectivity of how we perceive noise as well as the inaccuracies in common noise calculation standards are rarely represented. We present a virtual reality application that seeks to offer an audiovisual glimpse into the background workings of one of these standards, by employing a multisensory, immersive analytics approach that allows users to interactively explore and listen to an approximate rendering of the data in the same environment that the noise simulation occurs in. In order for this approach to be useful, it should manage complicated noise level calculations in a real time environment and run on commodity low-cost VR hardware. In a prototypical implementation, we utilized simple VR interactions common to current mobile VR headsets and combined them with techniques from data visualization and sonification to allow users to explore road traffic noise in an immersive real-time urban environment. The noise levels were calculated over CityGML LoD2 building geometries, in accordance with Common Noise Assessment Methods in Europe (CNOSSOS-EU) sound propagation methods.

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Review of Wireless Acoustic Sensor Networks for Environmental Noise Monitoring in Smart Cities

Journal of Sensors ◽

10.1155/2019/7634860 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2019 ◽

pp. 1-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Francesc Alías ◽

Rosa Ma. Alsina-Pagès

Keyword(s):

Sensor Networks ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Smart Cities ◽

Public Awareness ◽

Environmental Noise ◽

Acoustic Sensor ◽

Noise Mapping ◽

Acoustic Sensor Networks ◽

Internet Of Things Technology

Nowadays, more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. Since this proportion is expected to keep rising, the sustainable development of cities is of paramount importance to guarantee the quality of life of their inhabitants. Environmental noise is one of the main concerns that has to be addressed, due to its negative impact on the health of people. Different national and international noise directives and legislations have been defined during the past decades, which local authorities must comply with involving noise mapping, action plans, policing, and public awareness, among others. To this aim, a recent change in the paradigm for environmental noise monitoring has been driven by the rise of Internet of Things technology within smart cities through the design and development of wireless acoustic sensor networks (WASNs). This work reviews the most relevant WASN-based approaches developed to date focused on environmental noise monitoring. The proposals have moved from networks composed of high-accuracy commercial devices to the those integrated by ad hoc low-cost acoustic sensors, sometimes designed as hybrid networks with low and high computational capacity nodes. After describing the main characteristics of recent WASN-based projects, the paper also discusses several open challenges, such as the development of acoustic signal processing techniques to identify noise events, to allow the reliable and pervasive deployment of WASNs in urban areas together with some potential future applications.

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