Strategies for and Validity of Noise Monitoring in the Vicinity of Civilian Airfields and Army Installations.
Abstract
It is common practice to use computer-generated noise contours or noise zone maps to assess noise impact and perform noise related land-use planning. However, developers and other interested parties often question the accuracy of computer simulations and suggest direct measurement to verify the computer predictions. This report quantifies the temporal sampling requirements for and the accuracy and ability of directly measured sampled data to estimate the true yearly day/night average sound level (DNL). The results for civilian airports show that a precision (95 percent confidence) of + or - 2 to + or - 3 decibels (dB) is generally achieved with 4 to 8 weeks of monitoring; 1 week from each eighth or 1 week from each quarter of the year, respectively. It does not appear possible to directly monitor blast noise with current instrumentation and techniques, even if the monitoring is done continuously for an entire year. Separating blast noise from other noise and incorporating a single-event threshold appear to be two of the main technological problems. Improved wind screens and multiple microphone arrays may alleviate these problems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1984
- Accession Number
- ADA137780
Entities
People
- P. D. Schomer
- R. D. Neathammer
- R. E. Devor
Organizations
- Construction Engineering Research Laboratory