The application of computer aided during the creation of acoustic maps.

W referacie przedstawiono problem hałasu komunikacyjnego i sporządzania map akustycznych. Aglomeracje miejskie są szczególnie zagrożone wzrastającym poziomem hałasu komunikacyjnego. Wykonane zgodnie z zaleceniami UE mapy akustyczne miast są istotnym wskaźnikiem określającym stopień zagrożenia hałasem. Celem referatu jest przedstawienie możliwości wykorzystania specjalistycznego oprogramowania do tworzenia strategicznych map hałasu.The paper presents the problem of traffic noise and creation of acoustic maps. The urban agglomerations are particularly affected by increasing level of traffic noise. The acoustic maps of cities, prepared in accordance with EU recommendations, are an important indicator of the level of noise pollution. The aim of this paper is to present the possibility of using of specialized software to create strategic noise maps

Tourist Influence on Nightlife Noise

Although environmental noise from entertainment and leisure activities is causing a growing number of complaints from EU population, this noise issue is not covered by the current EU initiatives on environmental noise management. This noise problem is difficult to tackle strategically and technically – no specific standards have yet been established for measurements, methods and indicators, and the practical remedies are still limited. This paper reviews nightlife noise and more specifically how the presence of tourists influences the variation of the noise. Several case studies were conducted in some Spanish locations by the seasonal tourist incursion, mainly in the summer months. Variations in the nightlife noise in recreational zones during the weekends and “working days” are compared. This research also discusses data from different years and seasonal periods and reinforced with data obtained through surveys specifically designed for foreign tourists. These surveys reveal practical information about how tourists perceive noise, and their behaviour and reactions to it. Those data could be useful for Environmental Noise Authorities to develop noise action plans, as recreational noise is a source not considered when noise mapping by means of using simulation techniques

Noise: The disease of urban environments: Management and protection measures

Communal noise is the noise that comes from living together. It is the noise in the interior or exterior, whether in the working or living environment, spaces in public buildings or open public areas. The issue of communal noise has been partially resolved on paper by lows and by-lows on the permissible noise levels in the environment. However, the question is how much noise the community will tolerate, i.e, at what point citizens will start fighting noise. Numerous cities have signed strict regulations for reducing noise levels, both day and night, with a proposal for permitted limits. This paper presents commonly used methods for managing and protecting against the harmful effects of noise

Recreation noise in acoustic mapping

As far as most of citizens complains are about noise coming from recreational activities, usually related with the presence of people in the street around bars, pubs, parties and other activities carried out in public spaces, it seems reasonable to include this kind of noise source in the strategic noise maps, especially if the main objective of the noise mapping is to draw action plans. A methodology is proposed to analyze that kind of noise environments including short-term and long-term measurements, obtaining the acoustic indicators Ln and Lden as well as number of people exposed to those indicators. The results obtained in six different cities show that similar trends can be found for commercial streets in different cities, showing an increase of 5 dBA in Leq between 5 p.m and 8 p.m compared to the average value of Leq during the rest of day time. Night recreational noise seems more variable and an in field study must be carried out. It has also been found that around 10% of population is exposed to noise coming from commercial streets.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Environmental Noise Mapping as a Smart Urban Tool Development

Since the European Directive 2002/49, large transportation infrastructure along with large urban areas should have completed strategic noise maps (SNM) and the relative noise action plans (NAP). The majority of European Member States (MS) has enforced this directive and completed fully or, in some cases, partially, with European smart cities to use and share the same criteria and methodologies and along with transport operators to communicate to the public the relevant results and respective action plans by ensuring the citizen’s awareness about the environmental noise, the quality acoustic environment, and their effect to their professional and everyday lifestyle. Today, 18 years after its first edition, the European Directive 2002/49/EC is needed to be reformulated to take into account all defects that have been identified and to adapt as well as possible to contemporary constraints. New methodology tools have been developed especially regarding soundscaping and environmental acoustic rehabilitation of urban areas, and the respective chapter will describe the progress being made on these smart developments of cities and infrastructures. This chapter will also evoke criticisms of these smart tools and will present results from several—state of the art—case studies especially regarding the practical and theoretical limits they face

A fair method for the calculation of the external costs of road traffic noise according to the Eurovignette Directive

This paper presents calculations of the costs of road traffic noise in Europe that include the development of improved noise weighting factors according to vehicle class, speed and time of the day. The Eurovignette Directive allows EU Member States to levy infrastructure charges to compensate for the external costs of noise caused by heavy goods vehicles. Here we outline a method to calculate such costs in accordance to the Eurovignette Directive, which requires using weighting factors both for vehicle classes and times of the day. The Directive does not provide specific values or guidelines for calculating these factors. Moreover, while the Directive only focuses on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for day and night, we extend the calculations to other vehicle classes and time periods