Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown Measures on Noise Levels in Urban Areas—A Pre/during Comparison of Long-Term Sound Pressure Measurements in the Ruhr Area, Germany

Background: A major source of noise pollution is traffic. In Germany, the SARS-CoV-2 lockdown caused a substantial decrease in mobility, possibly affecting noise levels. The aim is to analyze the effects of the lockdown measures on noise levels in the densely populated Ruhr Area. We focus on the analysis of noise levels before and during lockdown considering different land use types, weekdays, and time of day. Methods: We used data from 22 automatic sound devices of the SALVE (Acoustic Quality and Health in Urban Environments) project, running since 2019 in Bochum, Germany. We performed a pre/during lockdown comparison of A-weighted equivalent continuous sound pressure levels. The study period includes five weeks before and five weeks during the SARS-CoV-2 induced administrative lockdown measures starting on 16 March 2020. We stratified our data by land use category (LUC), days of the week, and daytime. Results: We observed highest noise levels pre-lockdown in the ‘main street’ and ‘commercial areas’ (68.4 ± 6.7 dB resp. 61.0 ± 8.0 dB), while in ‘urban forests’ they were lowest (50.9 ± 6.6 dB). A distinct mean overall noise reduction of 5.1 dB took place, with noise reductions occurring in each LUC. However, the magnitude of noise levels differed considerably between the categories. Weakest noise reductions were found in the ‘main street’ (3.9 dB), and strongest in the ‘urban forest’, ‘green space’, and ‘residential area’ (5.9 dB each). Conclusions: Our results are in line with studies from European cities. Strikingly, all studies report noise reductions of about 5 dB. Aiming at a transformation to a health-promoting urban mobility can be a promising approach to mitigating health risks of noise in cities. Overall, the experiences currently generated by the pandemic offer data for best practices and policies for the development of healthy urban transportation—the effects of a lower traffic and more tranquil world were experienced firsthand by people during this time.

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An Assessment of Noise Levels in Sylhet City Corporation, Bangladesh

Asian Journal of Environment & Ecology ◽

10.9734/ajee/2019/v9i230089 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Md. Sultan Mahmud ◽

Rony Basak

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Noise Level ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Noise Pollution ◽

World Health ◽

Noise Levels ◽

Pollution Levels ◽

Land Use Types ◽

Health Organization ◽

The City

Noise pollution is a silent villain as it’s quite easy for being ignored by us. Urban areas are more exposed to this deadly agenda as the density of population and their belongings are excessive in there. This study differentiated noise levels of Sylhet City Corporation, a growing city of Bangladesh into different types according to the land use purpose of the city like residential, silent etc. One hundred and sixty-eight noise level readings, taken at 14 different positions during the morning, afternoon, evening, and night of selective weekdays which are categorized as busy days, typical days and weekends were utilized for this research. Results put the average noise level readings in the city centers at between 45 dB(A) and 95 dB (A), dissented from the permissible limits of the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as national standardization organization: Department of Environment (DOE) in all the land use types, with the highest noise pollution levels recorded for transportation, commercial and silent typed areas. The result of the one-way ANOVA test completed where the dependent variable was noise and the independent variable was land use types uncovers a factually huge mean noise levels over the study area (F (4,115) = 9.52, p = 1.1079). Tukey’s HSD method also carried away which showed the uneven difference of noise levels between the land types. The study represents noise pollution auditing, and the immediate needs to control urban noise pollution with convenient and effective policies some of which is recommended at the end of the study.

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Approaches to Urban Noise Management in India

ASME 2012 Noise Control and Acoustics Division Conference ◽

10.1115/ncad2012-1355 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Neelima S. Naik

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Central Government ◽

Environmental Concern ◽

Noise Pollution ◽

Noise Levels ◽

Urban Noise ◽

Master Plans ◽

The Past ◽

Metropolitan Cities

Noise pollution in urban areas is recognized as a major environmental concern in India. The lack of infrastructure and fast paced life in major metropolitan cities of India has made the urban environment extremely crowded, busy as well as noisy and as a result the millions of people living in the major metropolitan areas are suffering from the impacts of noise pollution. Noise levels are escalating at such a rate that it has become a major threat to the quality of human lives. Direct links between noise and health have been established by research conducted over the past few decades. There are several causes for urban degradation such as population migration, environmental considerations not adequately being incorporated into master plans, uncoordinated and haphazard development, weak implementation of plans and laws and inadequate institutional competences and resource crunch. This paper discusses the causal factors, impacts and the different approaches adopted by the Central Government as well as some major State Pollution Control Boards to curb the urban noise problem and the need for looking into non-conventional solutions such as Ecocity programme to bring in visible environmental improvement.

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Status of noise pollution in urban area of Dharan Sub- Metropolitan City and Inaruwa Municipality of Sunsari District, Nepal

Nepalese Journal of Biosciences ◽

10.3126/njbs.v7i1.41760 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 35-40

Author(s):

Ranij Shrestha ◽

Alankar Kafle ◽

Kul Prasad Limbu

Keyword(s):

Sound Pressure Level ◽

Sound Pressure ◽

Pollution Assessment ◽

Noise Pollution ◽

Pressure Level ◽

Noise Levels ◽

Night Time ◽

Level Measurement ◽

Standard Value ◽

Autumn And Winter

The environmental noise level measurement in Dharan and Inaruwa cities of eastern Nepal were conducted and compared with the ambient noise standards provided by Government of Nepal. The noise pollution assessment was performed in autumn and winter seasons by the indicator average day time sound pressure level (Ld, during 7.00 to 22.00 hrs) and average night time sound pressure level (Ln, during 22.00 to 7.00 hrs). The Ld and Ln values at the commercial, silence and residential zones of Dharan were 78 to 82 and 72 to 73, 65 to 73 and 60 to 70, 65 to 76 and 62 to 64 dB(A) in autumn and 78 to 79 and 72 to 76, 64 to 71 and 58 to 68, 63 to 74 and 60 to 62 dB(A) in winter, respectively whereas for Inaruwa, measurement were 75 to 77 and 73 to 75, 59 and 57, 67 and 60 dB(A) in autumn and 66 to 70 and 63 to 68, 55 and 53, 65 and 58 dB(A) in winter, respectively. The results showed that noise levels exceeded the standard value at most of the sites.

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Interface Urban Forest Management in an Urbanizing Landscape

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.013.666 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Maria A. Cunha-e-Sá ◽

Sofia F. Franco

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Forest Management ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Urban Forest ◽

Urban Forestry ◽

Comparative Statics ◽

Forest Conversion ◽

Timber Production ◽

Land Uses ◽

Clear Cutting

Although forests located near urban areas are a small fraction of the forest cover, a good understanding of the extent to which —wildland-urban interface (WUI) forest conversion affects local economies and environmental services can help policy-makers harmonize urban development and environmental preservation at this interface, with positive impact on the welfare of local communities. A growing part of the forest resource worldwide has come under urban influence, both directly (i.e., becoming incorporated into the interface or located at the interface with urban areas) and indirectly (as urban uses and values have come to dominate more remote forest areas). Yet forestry has been rather hesitant to recognize its urban mandate. Even if the decision to convert land at the WUI (agriculture, fruit, timber, or rural use) into an alternative use (residential and commercial development) is conditional on the relative magnitude and timing of the returns of alternative land uses, urban forestry is still firmly rooted in the same basic concepts of traditional forestry. This in turn neglects features characterizing this type of forestland, such as the urban influences from increasingly land-consumptive development patterns. Moreover, interface timber production-allocated land provides public goods that otherwise would be permanently lost if land were converted to an irreversible use. Any framework discussing WUI optimal rotation periods and conversion dates should then incorporate the urban dimension in the forester problem. It must reflect the factors that influence both urban and forestry uses and account for the fact that some types of land use conversion are irreversible. The goal is to present a framework that serves as a first step in explaining the trends in the use and management of private land for timber production in an urbanizing environment. Our framework integrates different land uses to understand two questions: given that most of the WUI land use change is irreversible and forestry at this interface differs from classic forestry, how does urban forestry build upon and benefit from traditional forestry concepts and approaches? In particular, what are the implications for the Faustmann harvesting strategy when conversion to an irreversible land use occurs at some point in the future? The article begins with a short background on the worldwide trend of forestland conversion at the WUI, focusing mostly on the case of developed countries. This provides a context for the theoretical framework used in the subsequent analysis of how urban factors affect regeneration and conversion dates. The article further reviews theoretical models of forest management practices that have considered either land sale following clear-cutting or a switch to a more profitable alternative land use without selling the land. A brief discussion on the studies with a generalization of the classic Faustmann formula for land expectation value is also included. For completeness, comparative statics results and a numerical illustration of the main findings from the private landowner framework are included.

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Noise Events Monitoring for Urban and Mobility Planning in Andorra la Vella and Escaldes-Engordany

Environments ◽

10.3390/environments6020024 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 24 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Rosa Alsina-Pagès ◽

Robert Garcia Almazán ◽

Marc Vilella ◽

Marc Pons

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Road Traffic ◽

Signal To Noise Ratio ◽

Traffic Noise ◽

Critical Factor ◽

Noise Pollution ◽

Urban Environments ◽

Road Traffic Noise ◽

City Life ◽

The Impact

Noise pollution is a critical factor and it has an important impact on public health, with the relationship between road traffic noise (RTN) and several illnesses in urban areas of particular concern. Andorra is currently developing a national strategy regarding noise pollution in their urban environments. The Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Sustainability is trying to to identify, monitor, map and model the effects of noise pollution and design mitigation policies to reduce the impact in certain priority areas. This analysis should take into account the existence of different types of anomalous noise events (ANEs) present in the street, e.g., horns, people talking, music, and other events that coexist with RTN, to characterize the soundscape of each of the locations. This paper presents a preliminary analysis considering both the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) and the duration of the ANEs to evaluate their presence in urban areas in the three different locations in Andorra la Vella and Escaldes-Engordany. The experiments conducted required a 10-h recording campaign distributed in the three locations under study, which was evaluated on two different days, one during the week and the other on the weekend. Afterwards, the data were carefully labeled and the SNR of each event was evaluated to determine the potential impact of the four categories under study: vehicles, works, city life and people.

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A Combination Model for Quantifying Non-Point Source Pollution Based on Land Use Type in a Typical Urbanized Area

Water ◽

10.3390/w12030729 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 729

Author(s):

Siru Wang ◽

Pinzeng Rao ◽

Dawen Yang ◽

Lihua Tang

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Urban Environments ◽

Point Sources ◽

Land Use Type ◽

Pollution Load ◽

Combination Model ◽

Urbanized Area ◽

Nps Pollution ◽

Poultry Breeding

Water pollution poses threats to urban environments and subsequently impacts the ecological health and sustainable development of urban areas. Identifying the spatiotemporal variation in non-point sources (NPS) pollution is a prerequisite for improving water quality. This paper aimed to assess the NPS pollution load and then recognized the spatiotemporal characteristics of the pollution sources in a typical urbanized area. A combination model based on land use type was used to simulate the NPS pollution load. The results showed the following: (1) ponds and farmlands had higher pollution production intensities than other land use types, but the intensity and magnitude of pollution emissions were generally greater in urban areas; (2) monthly and annual total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) emissions had the same pattern as rainfall, and TN and TP emissions accounted for 56.2% and 58.0%, respectively, of the total in summer; (3) TN pollution was more serious than TP pollution in the study area, especially in farmlands; (4) urban runoff (UR) and livestock and poultry breeding (LPB) were the main sources of NPS, TN and TP emissions in the study area. If these NPS pollutants cannot be removed from this area, a large amount of freshwater is needed to dilute the current rivers to meet the requirement of the fourth category of China national environmental quality standards for surface water. This problem is serious in the control of polluted rivers in many cities throughout China.

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A 30-meter resolution national urban land-cover dataset of China, 2000–2015

10.5194/essd-2019-65 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Wenhui Kuang ◽

Shu Zhang ◽

Xiaoyong Li ◽

Dengsheng Lu

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Cover ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Urban Land ◽

Google Earth ◽

Urban Environments ◽

Urban Land Use ◽

Environmental Research ◽

Urban Land Cover

Abstract. Accurate urban land-cover datasets are essential for mapping urban environments. However, a series of national urban land-cover data covering more than 15 years that characterizes urban environments is relatively rare. Here we propose a hierarchical principle on remotely sensed urban land-use/cover classification for mapping intra-urban structure/component dynamics. China's Land Use/cover Dataset (CLUD) is updated, delineating the imperviousness, green surface, waterbody and bare land conditions in cities. A new data subset called CLUD-Urban is created from 2000 to 2015 at five-year intervals with a medium spatial resolution (30 m). The first step is a prerequisite to extract the vector boundaries covered with urban areas from CLUD. A new method is then proposed using logistic regression between urban impervious surface area (ISA) and the annual maximum Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) value retrieved from Landsat images based on a big-data platform with Google Earth Engine. National ISA and urban green space (UGS) fraction datasets for China are generated at 30-meter resolution with five-year intervals from 2000 to 2015. The overall classification accuracy of national urban areas is 92 %. The root mean square error values of ISA and UGS fractions are 0.10 and 0.14, respectively. The datasets indicate that the total urban area of China was 6.28 × 104 km2 in 2015, with average fractions of 70.70 % and 26.54 % for ISA and UGS, respectively. The ISA and UGS increased between 2000 and 2015 with unprecedented annual rates of 1,311.13 km2/yr and 405.30 km2/yr, respectively. CLUD-Urban can be used to enhance our understanding of urbanization impacts on ecological and regional climatic conditions and urban dwellers' environments. CLUD-Urban can be applied in future researches on urban environmental research and practices in the future. The datasets can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2644932.

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Noise Pollution in Urban Residential Environments: Evidence from Students’ Hostels in Awka, Nigeria

Journal of Settlements and Spatial Planning ◽

10.24193/jssp.2021.1.05 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 51-62

Author(s):

Nicholas OBI ◽

◽

Joy Sylvia OBI ◽

Eziyi IBEM ◽

Dickson NWALUSI ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Residential Buildings ◽

Noise Pollution ◽

Sound Level ◽

Noise Levels ◽

Noise Sources ◽

Chi Square ◽

Sound Barriers ◽

Level Meter ◽

Area Data

Noise pollution and its concomitant effects on humans and environment has reached dangerous levels in many urban areas across the world. However, very little is known about the sources and effects of noise pollution within students’ hostels in a developing country like Nigeria. This study investigated urban noise pollution in residential neighbourhoods, using the Nnamdi Azikiwe University students’ off-campus accommodation in Awka, southeast Nigeria as the study area. Data were obtained through measurements of noise levels using sound level meter and by conducting a survey to gather feedback from 260 students in the study area. Descriptive statistics and Chi-Square tests were used to analyse the data; the results revealed mean noise levels of 89.8 dB(A) and 46.9 dB(A) during noisy and quiet periods, respectively. The main sources of noise were portable electricity generators, vehicular traffic and loudspeakers used by students and business operators; they were found to have deleterious effects such as low tolerance, headache, anger, lack of concentration and low productivity on the students. The study concludes by noting that to effectively minimize the effects of noise pollution within urban residential neighbourhoods in the study area and beyond, architects and urban planners should engage in proper land use zoning and the application of sound absorbing materials on walls and locating balconies of residential buildings away from noise sources. In addition, vegetation belts and sound barriers of earth mounds or wood, metal or concrete could also be constructed between the sources of noise and residential buildings, especially in the case of roadside communities.

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Quantifying Costs of Urbanisation: Wetland Loss and Impacts in a Rapidly Developing Global City

10.1101/2020.06.22.127365 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Harriet Gabites ◽

Ricky-John Spencer

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Surface Area ◽

Social Cohesion ◽

Green Infrastructure ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Wetland Loss ◽

Urban Environments ◽

Urban Biodiversity ◽

Wetland Inventory ◽

Chelodina Longicollis

AbstractAs cities grow, natural ecosystems decline through conversion to urban environments. Cities are often viewed as biodiversity wastelands, but they can be hotspots of global biodiversity. Urban biodiversity emphasises two fundamentals. First, people living in cities enjoy wildlife and second, there is virtually no planning for species that co-inhabit our cities. If urban biodiversity was a significant part of planning, then we would be far better at integrating green infrastructure into expanding urban environments.Wetlands are among the most important and productive ecosystems in the world. They are the main suppliers of fresh water for human use and provide habitat to critical fauna and flora. In urban areas they are a vital link to nature and social cohesion. Currently, there is an absence of wetland inventory quantifying loss and changes overtime. Hence the broad impacts of urbanisation on wetland loss are difficult to assess.We explored wetland loss and created a wetland inventory for Western Sydney, Australia, one of the world’s fastest growing urban regions. We used satellite imagery to determine wetland number and type, and calculated changes in wetland surface area from 2010-2017. Broad changes to land use were also quantified. We developed species distribution models of a common urban wetland turtle (Chelodina longicollis) that people interact with regularly or have as pets. Chelodina longicollis utilises both aquatic and terrestrial environments, and we determined if changes in distribution were associated with changes in the wetland inventory and urbanisation.Most local government areas (LGA) experienced a decrease in wetland surface area from 2010-2017, ranging from -1% (Cumberland) to -21% (Blacktown). Majority of LGAs experienced a decrease in wetland density, with wetland densities declining by 25% (Blacktown). All LGAs experienced an increase in urban land use, ranging from 3-12%, which was associated with high rates of wetland loss.Changes in turtle distribution over the decade reflects a southern distribution shift away from where wetland losses were concentrated. We estimated that ∼40,000 individual turtles were displaced or killed due to wetland loss and urbanisation.Urbanisation was the leading cause of wetland loss and degradation in Western Sydney between 2010 and 2017. Wetlands provide critical green infrastructure and significant green space for social cohesion in urban areas. Integration of current wetlands, or the creation of functional wetlands, is key for sustainable development of urban landscapes. Urban wetlands (natural and constructed) may provide “biodiversity arks” for endangered species and facilitate community led conservation programs.

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Impact of Air Transport on the Noise Level in the City of Burgas

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/201910104003 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 101 ◽

pp. 04003

Author(s):

Stela Todorova ◽

Kaloyan Haralampiev

Keyword(s):

Regression Model ◽

Noise Level ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Noise Pollution ◽

Air Traffic ◽

Noise Levels ◽

Monthly Basis ◽

Main Research ◽

Independent Variables ◽

The City

Aviation, as every type of transport, is responsible for a number of negative external effects to the environment. The main goal of this study is to reveal the relation between the noise level in the urban areas near to the Burgas airport and the air traffic. Our main research tasks are: to make a literature review of the problem; to gather data for the noise levels; to gather data for the air traffic; to choose relevant statistical methods and models for the revealing of the relation between the noise level and air traffic; to draw conclusions and to make recommendations about the noise pollution in the vicinity of Burgas Airport. The data are on monthly basis and cover the period from January 2015 to December 2017, i.e. 36 months. In our regression model we use three traffic indicators as independent variables: aircraft movements; passengers and freight. In the established regression model we introduce ‘the time’ as an additional factor, which provides concrete practical advantages. Our results show that two independent variables (aircraft movements and freight) affect the Twenty-four hours average equivalent level of noise due to flights. Aircraft movements are the most important factor and we expect their increasing in the future. This will lead to increased noise levels.

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