Statistical Pass-By for Unattended Road Traffic Noise Measurement in an Urban Environment

Abstract

Low-noise surfaces have become a common mitigation action in the last decade, so much so that different methods for feature extraction have been established to evaluate their efficacy. Among these, the Close Proximity Index (CPX) evaluates the noise emissions by means of multiple runs at different speeds performed with a vehicle equipped with a reference tire and with acoustic sensors close to the wheel. However, signals acquired with CPX make it source oriented, and the analysis does not consider the real traffic flow of the studied site for a receiver-oriented approach. These aspects are remedied by Statistical Pass-By (SPB), a method based on sensor feature extraction with live detection of events; noise and speed acquisitions are performed at the roadside in real case scenarios. Unfortunately, the specific SPB requirements for its measurement setup do not allow an evaluation in urban context unless a special setup is used, but this may alter the acoustical context in which the measurement was performed. The present paper illustrates the testing and validation of a method named Urban Pass-By (U-SPB), developed during the LIFE NEREiDE project. U-SPB originates from standard SPB, exploits unattended measurements and develops an in-lab feature detection and extraction procedure. The U-SPB extends the evaluation in terms of before/after data comparison of the efficiency of low-noise laying in an urban context while combining the estimation of long-term noise levels and traffic parameters for other environmental noise purposes, such as noise mapping and action planning.

How policy choices on industrial noise in acoustic zoning relates with economy and urban development

“…Many studies have been dedicated to the emission, transmission and effects on human health of the main noise sources, which are mainly transport infrastructures: roads [1][2][3][4], railway traffic [5][6][7], airports [8,9], port activities [10,11]. Although it is considered one of the fundamental sources of noise by European legislation, industrial noise is difficult to treat in a homogeneous way and therefore it has been investigated almost exclusively as case studies.…”

Research on the Sound Insulation Performance of Composite Rubber Reinforced with Hollow Glass Microsphere Based on Acoustic Finite Element Simulation

“…This makes it a focus of research in the domain of polymeric material and has attracted enthusiastic research interests all over the world. For example, the crumb rubber asphalt mixtures had been utilized to gain newly laid low-noise pavements [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ], which could reduce the generated noise in urban traffic.…”

Adjusted Controlled Pass-By (CPB) Method for Urban Road Traffic Noise Assessment

“…In the other hand, sound produced by real vehicle flow is measured using the Statistical Pass-By (SPB) method according to ISO/DIS 11819-1 [42] or consequent adaptations [47][48][49]. This assessment is based on roadside noise and traffic measurements.…”