The Role of Sleep Disturbance in Predicting Community Response to the Noise of Heavy Weapons
Abstract
One of the most common sources of noise complaints around Army and Marine firing ranges is nighttime gunfire. Testing and training during the hours of darkness is absolutely essential to combat readiness. However, sound travels farther at night, and people are particularly sensitive to noise when they are trying to sleep. Currently, installation commanders are without a procedure to determine whether a particular operation is going to disturb sleep. The purpose of this research is to develop such a procedure. The primary objective was to establish whether a commercially available instrument for measuring sleep disturbance is suitable for measuring awakening among subjects exposed to the sounds of heavy weapons. The secondary objective was to determine if there is a time when people are less sensitive to noises so that a range operator could reduce annoyance through systematic scheduling of night fire. In general, the decibel level had an effect on the response. The higher peak decibel level was more likely to wake someone. Day of the study did not affect the response. Time was observed in some analyses to have a slight effect on waking. The feasibility of conducting a sleep disturbance study was established.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA443472
Entities
People
- Catherine M. Stewart
- Edward T. Nykaza
- George A. Luz
- Larry L. Pater
Organizations
- Engineer Research and Development Center