scholarly journals Monitoring Sound and Its Perception during the Lockdown and De-Escalation of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Spanish Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 3392
Author(s):  
María Dolores Redel-Macías ◽  
Pilar Aparicio-Martinez ◽  
Sara Pinzi ◽  
Pedro Arezes ◽  
Antonio José Cubero-Atienza
Keyword(s):  
Global Positioning System ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Sound Pressure ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Noise Levels ◽  
Environmental Implications ◽  
Spanish Study ◽  
Global Positioning ◽  
Before And After

The lockdown measures in Spain due to the SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic from 13 March to 21 June 2020 had extensive social and environmental implications. This study aims to understand how the measures of lockdown have influenced noise levels, as well as people’s perception of sound quality before and after lockdown, including de-escalation. For this purpose, an online survey was carried out. Moreover, the noise linked to the Global Positioning System (GPS) position of each individual respondent was recorded aiming to correlate the noise level with the result of the survey. An average reduction of over 30 dB was observed compared with the sound pressure level before lockdown. Furthermore, it was found that the loudness parameter, together with the overall level, increased as the country started relaxing restrictions. Additionally, results showed that the perception of noise quality changed depending on the phase of de-escalation (p < 0.01), the type of property (p < 0.05), and the outside noise (p < 0.01). Moreover, noise annoyance was determined considering age (p < 0.01), gender (p < 0.05), type of property (p < 0.001), and home refurbishment (p < 0.05). It may be concluded that the most important measure to decrease noise levels is the reduction of traffic noise, through using eco-friendly public transportation or bicycles and limiting nightlife hours.

scholarly journals Sustainability of Public Transportation: An Examination of User Behavior to Real-Time GPS Tracking Application

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Chiang Chan ◽  
Wan Hashim Wan Ibrahim ◽  
May Chiun Lo ◽  
Mohamad Kadim Suaidi ◽  
Shiaw Tong Ha
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Global Positioning System ◽  
Public Transport ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
User Behavior ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Gps Tracking ◽  
Inaccurate Information ◽  
Global Positioning ◽  
Before And After

Public transportation is an effective method of mobility that promotes cost-saving and is environmentally friendly. Poor public transport ridership in Malaysia is due to the unsatisfactory attitude of public transport users and inaccurate information on departure and arrivals. Sarawak, a state of Malaysia, is especially poor in ridership of public transport. A real-time Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking application (app) was found to be an effective tool to increase the ridership of public transport. Hence, a mobile app named UniBus was developed to enhance the ridership of public transport in Sarawak. The determinants that affect satisfaction and customer loyalty such as accessibility, reliability, comfort, safety, and security were all examined before and after the use of real-time GPS tracking app. The data was collected in Kuching, and targeted public transport users who used the UniBus app. The result indicated that all the mentioned variables were improved after using a real-time GPS tracking app. It is suggested that future studies can consider other factors such as service quality, availability, and perceived value as well as cover other states of Malaysia.

scholarly journals The Effect of Rail Fastening System Modifications on Tram Traffic Noise and Vibration

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stjepan Lakušić ◽  
Ivo Haladin ◽  
Maja Ahac
Keyword(s):  
Public Transportation ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Decay Rates ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Noise Levels ◽  
Noise Emission ◽  
Noise And Vibration ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The City

Tram system is a backbone of public transportation in the City of Zagreb. In the last decade, its fleet has been renewed by 142 new low-floor trams. Shortly after their introduction, it was observed that they have a negative impact on the exploitation behavior of tram infrastructure, primarily on the durability of rail fastening systems. Because of that, it was decided to modify existing rail fastening systems to the new track exploitation conditions. When the (re)construction of tram infrastructure is carried out by applying new systems and technologies, it is necessary to take into account their impact on the future propagation of noise and vibration in the environment. This paper gives a short overview of the characteristics of the two newly developed rail fastening systems for Zagreb tram tracks, their application in construction of experimental track section, and performance and comparison of noise and vibration measurements results. Measured data on track vibrations and noise occurring during passage of the tram vehicles is analyzed in terms of track decay rates and equivalent noise levels of passing referent vehicle. Vibroacoustic performance of new fastening systems is evaluated and compared to referent fastening system, in order to investigate their ability to absorb vibration energy induced by tram operation and to reduce noise emission.

scholarly journals Characteristics of the built environment on GPS-determined bicycle routes used by adolescents

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Edina Maria de Camargo ◽  
Claudia Oliveira Alberico ◽  
Adalberto Aparecido Santos Lopes ◽  
Jasper Schipperijn ◽  
Rodrigo Siqueira Reis
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Global Positioning System ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Physical Disorder ◽  
Bus Rapid Transit ◽  
Food Services ◽  
Vacant Lots ◽  
Global Positioning ◽  
The City ◽  
Retail Food

The aim of this study was to identify the characteristics of the routes used for cycling according to gender on a sample of adolescents from the city of Curitiba, Brazil. The study was conducted in 2013 with 147  adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, who wore accelerometer and Global Positioning System receivers to assess physical activity and geographic locations. A total of 38 participants (50.0% girls) presented at least one bicycle route and were included in the analytic sample. A total of 386 routes were identified. Nearly all routes included public transportation facilities, plazas, and parcels with residential, retail, food or recreational land use (> 97.0%) while bike lanes/paths (62.7%) and Fitness Zones were less frequent (71.8%). Bus rapid transit (BRT) stations, parks and vacant lots were the least frequent feature in the routes (37.3%; 17.1%; and 7.5%, respectively). Routes used by girls had fewer vacant lots (3.9%; p = 0.001) and more residential, retail, food services, and recreational uses (99.6%; p = 0.003; 99.1%; p = 0.011; 98.7%; p = 0.030, respectively) than those used by boys. The findings suggest that the routes used by adolescents have mixed and diverse land use and girls ride along routes with greater bicycling and service infrastructure and less physical disorder than boys.

Application of Information Technologies to Fuel Savings in Construction

2015 ◽  
Vol 803 ◽  
pp. 89-96
Author(s):  
Terezie Vondrackova ◽  
Martin Sip ◽  
Zdenek Caha
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Consumption ◽  
Global Positioning System ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Human Factor ◽  
Positioning System ◽  
Construction Company ◽  
Fuel Savings ◽  
Global Positioning ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Earthmoving Machines

This contribution deals with the benefits of the global positioning system, with the influence of the human factor on fuel consumption and with monitoring of further savings in operation of earthmoving machines in a construction company. Fuel consumption data of a selected earthmoving machine before and after installation of a global positioning system unit and a fuel level measurement sensor are compared. These data are evaluated and the extent of the influence of the installed devices on the machine fuel consumption is determined from them. Further possibility of exploitation of monitoring of earthmoving machines during excavation and creation of given relief is also described here. Not only the fuel savings were evaluated, but also the accuracy and speed of performed work and thus also the influence of the human factor on performance of earthmoving machines itself.

A Study of Traffic Noise Reduction Performance of Arc Pavement Roads and Traffic Flow

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zheng Lou ◽  
Liming Dai
Keyword(s):  
Noise Reduction ◽  
Traffic Flow ◽  
Noise Level ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Flow Conditions ◽  
Noise Levels ◽  
Flow Monitoring ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Rubber Concrete

Asphalt Rubber Concrete (ARC) pavement has shown an excellent performance of noise reduction in terns of reducing the power of air pumping, absorbing sound power, depressing carcass vibration and changing sound reflection geometry. This research is to investigate the traffic noise reduction performance of a segment of test highway with ARC pavement in Saskatchewan, Canada. Before and after the highway section was repaved, a series of traffic noise level measurements combining with traffic flow monitoring are conducted in order to compare the sound performance of ARC and conventional pavements. A relationship between the noise level and corresponding traffic flow conditions of ARC pavement is established. The energetic averaging method is employed to study the relationship between traffic noise level and traffic flow condition. The two noise levels of 24-hour's time averaged and Statistical Pass-By noise levels indicated that the ARC pavement has a better sound performance over that of conventional pavement in terms of traffic noise reduction. The traffic noise reduction applicability of ARC pavement under various traffic flow conditions is also performed in this research.

scholarly journals Road traffic noise assessment in a hospital area in Umuarama - Brazil

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (74) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Junqueira Moreira ◽  
Warde Antonieta Da Fonseca-Zang ◽  
Cecília de Castro Bolina ◽  
Stella Alonso Rocha ◽  
Paulo Henrique Trombetta Zannin
Keyword(s):  
Strong Correlation ◽  
Sound Pressure ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Noise Pollution ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Vehicular Traffic ◽  
Noise Levels ◽  
Hospital Environments ◽  
Noise Assessment

In hospital environments, high noise levels can result in damage to patients' treatments, delaying their rest and recovery. The sound pressure level (SPL) in hospital areas during the day must not exceed 50 dB and 45 dB (A) at night, according to NBR 10.151/2019. This research aimed to carry out environmental monitoring of equivalent sound pressure levels (LAeq) at fifteen points in the vicinity of three hospitals in the central region of the municipality of Umuarama-PR, during working days, at four different times, in the months of August, September and November 2018 and continued in March 2019. To this end, we sought to map the LAeq of the points, compare them with data from municipal and federal legislation and relate the LAeq to the volume of vehicular traffic. The collected SPL were higher than recommended by NBR 10.151 at all times and measurement points, during the week, and when considering the municipal regulations, only one point is in the equipment's accuracy limit. From the statistical analysis, a very strong correlation was observed between LAeq and the total volume of vehicles, and also a strong correlation between the descriptors L10 and L50 and the volume of vehicles. The Traffic Noise Index (TNI) was also calculated and the LAeq values ​​were compared with a subjective noise rating. The results show a scenario of noise pollution in the area and there is a need for the application of mitigating measures.

scholarly journals Dreaming of Perfect Data: Characterizing Noise in Archaeo-Geophysical Measurements

Geosciences ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armin Schmidt ◽  
Michel Dabas ◽  
Apostolos Sarris
Keyword(s):  
Global Positioning System ◽  
Limit Of Detection ◽  
Positioning System ◽  
Noise Levels ◽  
Noise Sources ◽  
Global Positioning ◽  
System Synchronization ◽  
Geophysical Anomalies ◽  
Synchronization Problems ◽  
Geophysical Measurements

For the interpretation of archaeological geophysical data as archaeological features, it is essential that the recorded anomalies can be clearly delineated and analyzed, and therefore, care has been taken to obtain the best possible data. However, as with all measurements, data are degraded by unwanted components, or noise. This review clarifies the terminology, discusses the four major sources of noise (instrument, use of instrument, external, soil), and demonstrates how it can be characterized using geostatistical and wavenumber methods. It is important to recognize that even with improved instruments, some noise sources, like soil noise, may persist and that degraded data may be the result of unexpected sources, for example, global positioning system synchronization problems. Suggestions for the evaluation and recording of noise levels are provided to allow estimation of the limit of detection for archaeological geophysical anomalies.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the Stability of the Darbandikhan Dam after the 12 November 2017 Mw 7.3 Sarpol-e Zahab (Iran–Iraq Border) Earthquake

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasir Al-Husseinawi ◽  
Zhenhong Li ◽  
Peter Clarke ◽  
Stuart Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Global Positioning System ◽  
Large Earthquake ◽  
Large Magnitude ◽  
Sar Images ◽  
Seismic Displacement ◽  
Surface Displacements ◽  
Medium Resolution ◽  
Global Positioning ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Stability

We used a global positioning system (GPS), levelling, and Sentinel-1 data to evaluate the stability of the Darbandikhan dam in northeast Iraq after the 2017 Mw 7.3 Sarpol-e Zahab earthquake. GPS and levelling datasets collected in March and November 2017 were used to compute the co-seismic surface displacements of the dam. Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images collected between October 2014 and March 2018 were employed to recover the displacement time series of the dam. The large-magnitude displacement gradient on the dam crest hindered the estimation of the co-seismic displacement using this medium-resolution SAR data. However, Sentinel-1 images are sufficient to examine the stability of the dam displacement before and after the earthquake. The results show that the dam was stable between October 2014 and November 2017, but after the earthquake, Sentinel-1 data shows a continuous subsidence of the dam crest between November 2017 and March 2018. To the best knowledge of the authors, this study is the first that utilises InSAR to investigate the behaviour of a dam after a large earthquake.

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