Predicting variability in environmental noise measurements
Predicting variability in environmental noise measurements
The general subject of this thesis is the study and quantification of noise level variability. Environmental noise assessments focus on standard methods to calculate or present measured noise levels which pay no attention to the actual variability underlying in-situ field measurements. This often leads to output data which do not fully represent received noise levels in measurements, and which create a common source of misinterpretation when justifying planning, legal and compensatory decisions based on these results.
To tackle this problem, the thesis first investigates the statistical variability associated with a large measurement database acquired under field conditions. The results show a strong inverse relationship between measured variability (standard deviations) and mean noise levels. The investigation also reveals that the source-receiver distance and the meteorological conditions have strong effects on the measured standard deviations. Searching for a quantitative explanation of this relation, a fiat ground acoustical propagation test was carried out under controlled conditions. The results provide a detailed breakdown of the different contributions that each variable has on the measured noise level variability. Another flat ground experiment was carried out in a different location and only over one day to account for the effect of short-term atmospheric turbulence. The experimental data obtained allowed understanding and adjusting the more significant parameters to develop a turbulence model within the Parabolic Equation sound propagation method.
All the obtained results give an insight of sound level variability in three different situations: when having multiple environmental sources (urban-residential areas) and in both mid-term and short-term atmospheric conditions. It is anticipated that this study may be of assistance when predicting environmental noise level variability or dimensioning the uncertainty in common calculated noise levels.
University of Southampton
Alberola, Javier
4e5432c8-a5b1-42af-b3de-86d40218c1c8
2005
Alberola, Javier
4e5432c8-a5b1-42af-b3de-86d40218c1c8
Alberola, Javier
(2005)
Predicting variability in environmental noise measurements.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
The general subject of this thesis is the study and quantification of noise level variability. Environmental noise assessments focus on standard methods to calculate or present measured noise levels which pay no attention to the actual variability underlying in-situ field measurements. This often leads to output data which do not fully represent received noise levels in measurements, and which create a common source of misinterpretation when justifying planning, legal and compensatory decisions based on these results.
To tackle this problem, the thesis first investigates the statistical variability associated with a large measurement database acquired under field conditions. The results show a strong inverse relationship between measured variability (standard deviations) and mean noise levels. The investigation also reveals that the source-receiver distance and the meteorological conditions have strong effects on the measured standard deviations. Searching for a quantitative explanation of this relation, a fiat ground acoustical propagation test was carried out under controlled conditions. The results provide a detailed breakdown of the different contributions that each variable has on the measured noise level variability. Another flat ground experiment was carried out in a different location and only over one day to account for the effect of short-term atmospheric turbulence. The experimental data obtained allowed understanding and adjusting the more significant parameters to develop a turbulence model within the Parabolic Equation sound propagation method.
All the obtained results give an insight of sound level variability in three different situations: when having multiple environmental sources (urban-residential areas) and in both mid-term and short-term atmospheric conditions. It is anticipated that this study may be of assistance when predicting environmental noise level variability or dimensioning the uncertainty in common calculated noise levels.
Text
974499.pdf
- Version of Record
More information
Published date: 2005
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 465578
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/465578
PURE UUID: f4e849c8-804b-4ae0-ba97-79685487d810
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 05 Jul 2022 01:53
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 20:15
Export record
Contributors
Author:
Javier Alberola
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics