Capturing the spatial and temporal variability of urban noise: do low-cost sensors offer a step towards higher resolution noise monitoring?

Abstract

Populations are being exposed to environmental noise at levels that impact on both mental and physical health, with knock-on effects on productivity and economic performance. Current assessments of exposure are often based on noise levels at building façades, derived from sound propagation models and are usually limited to long-term average noise levels for periods of the day, night or over 24 hours (e.g. Lden). There is a particular lack of information on variations in noise throughout the diurnal cycle and over long time periods. In this study, we deployed 14 low-cost recorders to gather high resolution data on urban noise levels and compared results with those from a conventional noise propagation algorithm. Daily LAeq and diurnal variations in hourly LAeq showed considerable variation in space and time with the middle of the day generally noisiest. Some of
these patterns were well captured by the propagation model although it tended to underestimate noise levels from all sources. Although more work is needed, we suggest that well-placed sensors have the potential to enhance exposure assessments e.g. on minor roads and where traffic is not the major noise source

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Identifiers

ORCID for Patrick E. Osborne: orcid.org/0000-0001-8919-5710

ORCID for Paul White: orcid.org/0000-0002-4787-8713

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