Mapping the sonic attributes: an acoustic approach for studying space

Abstract

Typical geographic analysis employs data that represent mainly the visual part of a given landscape in combination with spatially referenced data for selected attributes, depending on the aims of an application. Although sound is considered a dominant component of the environment it is commonly taken into account only as a quantitative attribute (e.g. noise mapping). Acoustic ecology studies the interaction between an environment and its habitants, through the sense of hearing. The term soundscape introduced to describe the sonic dimension of space. This paper proposes a methodology for the representation of selected sonic attributes as cartographic layers. As an example, it is presented the mapping of soundscape around th