Noise regulations can often have a great impact on the siting of wind turbines. In the United States, there are no national wind turbine noise regulations. State standards are often not in place, leaving wind turbine siting regulations up to local authorities. This presentation discusses an assortment of both state and local standards from the United States, their implications, and from what basis the ordinances are developed.
Modeling done for wind farms usually focuses on calculating a worst-case short term average sound level. However, the impact to homes is not simply defined by a single meteorological condition. Rather, a more complete picture of the impacts is given by calculating sound levels under various meteorological conditions that occur during the year. The actual sound level at a receiver will depend on variations in atmospheric stability, wind speed, wind direction, and other parameters that change hourly. This paper will describe a method to calculate hourly sound pressure levels for individual receivers over the course of an 8760 h year and give examples of different wind farm configurations and how they affect annualized sound levels.
Sound propagation from wind power projects can be modeled in the same manner as other more common outdoor noise sources, but are these models suited to wind turbines' uniquely high source heights, operating under high wind conditions, and various degrees of terrain ruggedness. In "Propagation Modeling Parameters for Wind Turbines" (K. Kaliski and E. Duncan, Proceedings of Institute of Noise Control Engineers NOISECON 2007), the effects of ground attenuation and various adjustments for wind conditions on sound propagation modeling were discussed. This paper continues the discussion and explores the accuracy of existing sound propagation modeling methods for wind power projects including ISO 9613 and other standards. Model data for wind power projects and the implications of various terrain and ground coverage will be discussed.
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