Wind Farm Noise Management Based on Determinants of Annoyance

Wind energy in Europe is aimed to grow at a steady, high pace. Wind turbine noise is an important issue for residents. Environmental noise management aims to reduce the exposure of the population, usually based on acoustics and restricted to a limited number of sources (such as transportation or industry) and sound descriptors (such as Lden). Individual perceptions are taken into account only at an aggregate, statistical level (such as percentage of exposed, annoyed or sleep-disturbed persons in the population). Individual perceptions and reactions to sound vary in intensity and over different dimensions (such as pleasure/fear or distraction). Sound level is in fact a weak predictor of the perceived health effects of sound. The positive or negative perception of the sound (source) is a better predictor of its effects. This article aims to show how the two perspectives (based on acoustics and on perception) can lead to a combined approach in the management of environmental sound. In this approach the reduction of annoyance, not primarily of level, is the main aim. An important aspect in this approach is what a sound means to people: does it lead to anxiety or worry, is it appropriate? The available knowledge will be applied to wind farm management: planning as well as operation.

Clinical Practice Patterns of Fitting Advanced Device Features in Children With Cochlear Implants

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify common clinical practice patterns for providing advanced noise management features in children with cochlear implants (CIs) and evaluate trends in consideration of clinician experience and comfort with CI manufacturer-specific technology. Method: A mixed-model survey including quantitative and qualitative questions regarding providing advanced noise management features in the pediatric CI population was collected electronically via research electronic data capture. Survey questions spanned approach/philosophy toward provision of features, age of provision, and demographics of respondents. Descriptive statistics were completed to define common clinical practice patterns and demographic information. Results: A total of 160 pediatric audiologists from 35 U.S. States and five Canadian provinces completed the survey. Most audiologists (73.8%) reported enabling automatic directional microphones, and a vast majority (91%) reported enabling advanced noise processing features such as automatic noise cancellers, wind noise cancellers, and impulse noise cancellers in recipients' main programs. Audiologists ranked features in terms of importance for a school-age child with the top three ranked as automatic noise reduction, automatic directional microphones, and concha-level microphones. Importance of child-specific factors varied depending upon the specific feature of interest. Conclusions: Variability exists among providers in enabling advanced noise management features for pediatric CI recipients. Multiple factors, including patient characteristics, provider characteristics, and limited evidence-based guidance, could account for much of the variation. Overall, there is a trend toward automaticity for noise management. Additional studies are warranted to provide the evidence base for confidently programming advanced features for children using CIs.

Noise Management in Homomorphic Encryption Scheme: Analyzing of Algorithm

Homomorphic encryption is the Swiss army of cryptography. It allows to perform computations on encrypted data. this conjecture of processing on encrypted data was stated by [RAD78]. Until Gentry breakthrough in 2009, only partial solutions were offered. They deal with encrypted data with bounded functions in operations.Gentry raised the bound of number of operations by introducing a new method called the bootstrapping. This method allows to reduce the noise in the ciphertext and to perform more computing on it. Since Gentry's breakthrough, several improvements and several alternatives to the bootstrapping technique have been proposed to improve execution time and reduce resource consumption. This article studies the growth of noise and the noise management strategy in homomorphic encryption. It also presents the trend of hoping strategy from 2009 to 2016. Through the DGHV, it shows the management of noise on a one-bit encrypted message.

Wind Noise Management in Hearing Aids

Many hearing aid users are negatively impacted by wind noise when spending time outdoors. Turbulent airflow around hearing aid microphones caused by the obstruction of wind can result in noise that is not only perceived as annoying but may also mask desirable sounds in the listening environment, such as speech. To mitigate the adverse effects of wind noise, hearing aid developers have introduced several technological solutions to reduce the amount of wind noise at the hearing aid output. Some solutions are based on mechanical modifications; more recently, sophisticated signal processing algorithms have also been introduced. By offering solutions to the wind noise problem, these signal processing algorithms can promote more optimal use of hearing aids during outdoor activities. This article reviews how wind noise is generated in hearing aids, outlines the technological challenges in wind noise management, and summarizes the technological solutions that have been proposed and/or implemented in modern hearing aids.

Aircraft Noise Management

Several studies predict an increase up to 40% in traffic flights by the 2040. Airport noise control is a complicated procedure which creates an interesting blend of science, politics, and money. Accordingly, in many communities where airport noise is perceived as a significant problem, a noise control program is sometimes viewed as a continual process, rather than a discrete solution which will come to an end at some point in time.This work is an overview in the existing European low framework and the noise abatement procedure put in place to manage the aircraft noise.

Enhancing Noise Management Strategy: Recommendations from the strategy literature.

Airports are required to manage noise impact owing to their requirement to obtain a social license to operate, and to comply with legislation such as the ICAO Balanced Approach and Environmental Noise Directive. Research has however shown that noise management actions and interventions often take a techno-centric approach, are implemented in silos, and that their success beyond noise metrics is rarely evaluated. Moreover, the success of Noise Action Plans in driving long-term noise management outcomes has also been critiqued at a number of levels. In the context of this background, this paper outlines the case for more strategic approaches to noise management and, drawing on the academic strategic literature, outlines approaches to developing such strategies that can be followed by airports. The aim of such approaches is to complement existing noise management guidance by providing step-processes that can aid airports in developing robust, repeatable, evaluable, and successful noise management strategies that are consistent with wider airport strategy and that are sympathetic to the needs of airport residents.

Exemplification case studies as a focus for the implementation of best practices related to aircraft noise management at airports

The current study presents the analysis of seven airport exemplification case studies undertaken in the European project "Aviation Noise Impact Management through Novel Approaches - ANIMA". Best practices related to aircraft noise management at airports in individual airport contexts were implemented and evaluated. Case studies on communication and community engagement in airport noise management were investigated at Heathrow (Great Britain), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Rotterdam The Hague (The Netherlands) airports. For Zaporizhzhia (Ukraine) and Iasi (Romania) airports, the implementation of interventions related to land use planning was examined. The interdependencies between noise and emissions were studied for Cluj (Romania) and Catania (Italy) airports. All case studies were performed under the scope of the corresponding national legislation and guidelines. Individual characteristics of airport operations were taken into account. The case studies were aligned with expectations and priorities of all involved stakeholders, such as representatives of airport operators, local communities, civil aviation authorities and policy makers. The efficacy of the noise management case studies is assessed in terms of: the capacity to negotiate consensus outcomes, the extent to which noise impact reductions were achieved; and the participants' satisfaction with the process and outcomes. Experience gained from these studies will be used to distill best practices for future intervention.

Quieted City Sounds during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Montreal

This paper investigates the transformation of urban sound environments during the COVID-19 pandemic in Montreal, Canada. We report on comparisons of sound environments in three sites, before, during, and after the lockdown. The project is conducted in collaboration with the Montreal festival district (Quartier des Spectacles) as part of the Sounds in the City partnership. The analyses rely on continuous acoustic monitoring of three sites. The comparisons are presented in terms of (1) energetic acoustic indicators over different periods of time (Lden, Ld, Le, Ln), (2) statistical acoustic indicators (L10, L90), and (3) hourly, daily, and weekly profiles of sound levels throughout the day. Preliminary analyses reveal sound level reductions on the order of 6–7 dB(A) during lockdown, with differences more or less marked across sites and times of the day. After lockdown, sound levels gradually increased following an incremental relaxation of confinement. Within four weeks, sound levels measurements nearly reached the pre-COVID-19 levels despite a reduced number of pedestrian activities. Long-term measurements suggest a ‘new normal’ that is not quite as loud without festival activities, but that is also not characterizable as quiet. The study supports reframing debates about noise control and noise management of festival areas to also consider the sounds of such areas when festival sounds are not present.