scholarly journals Combining VR Visualization and Sonification for Immersive Exploration of Urban Noise Standards

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Berger ◽  
Ralf Bill
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Sound Propagation ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Urban Traffic ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Common Noise ◽  
Noise Assessment

Urban traffic noise situations are usually visualized as conventional 2D maps or 3D scenes. These representations are indispensable tools to inform decision makers and citizens about issues of health, safety, and quality of life but require expert knowledge in order to be properly understood and put into context. The subjectivity of how we perceive noise as well as the inaccuracies in common noise calculation standards are rarely represented. We present a virtual reality application that seeks to offer an audiovisual glimpse into the background workings of one of these standards, by employing a multisensory, immersive analytics approach that allows users to interactively explore and listen to an approximate rendering of the data in the same environment that the noise simulation occurs in. In order for this approach to be useful, it should manage complicated noise level calculations in a real time environment and run on commodity low-cost VR hardware. In a prototypical implementation, we utilized simple VR interactions common to current mobile VR headsets and combined them with techniques from data visualization and sonification to allow users to explore road traffic noise in an immersive real-time urban environment. The noise levels were calculated over CityGML LoD2 building geometries, in accordance with Common Noise Assessment Methods in Europe (CNOSSOS-EU) sound propagation methods.

scholarly journals Low-Cost WASN for Real-Time Soundmap Generation

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 57
Author(s):  
Gerardo José Ginovart-Panisello ◽  
Ester Vidaña-Vila ◽  
Selene Caro-Via ◽  
Carme Martínez-Suquía ◽  
Marc Freixes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Public Places ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Real Scenario

Recent advances in technology have enabled the development of affordable low-cost acoustic monitoring systems, as a response of several fields of application that require a close acoustic analysis in real-time: road traffic noise in crowded cities, biodiversity conservation in natural parks, behavioural tracking in the elderly living alone and even surveillance in public places for safety reasons. This paper presents a low-cost wireless acoustic sensor network developed to gather acoustic data to build a 24/7 real-time soundmap. Each node of the network comprises an omnidirectional microphone and a computation unit, which processes acoustic information locally to obtain nonsensitive data (i.e., equivalent continuous loudness levels or acoustic event labels) that are sent to a cloud server. Moreover, it has also been studied the placement of the acoustic sensors in a real scenario, following acoustics criteria. The ultimate goal of the deployed system is to enable the following functions: (i) to measure the Leq in real-time in a predefined window, (ii) to identify changing patterns in the previous measurements so that anomalous situations can be detected and (iii) to prevent and attend potential irregular situations. The proposed network aims to encourage the use of real-time non-invasive devices to obtain behavioural and environmental information, in order to take decisions in real-time.

ConvTasNet-based anomalous noise separation for intelligent noise monitoring

2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (4) ◽  
pp. 2044-2051
Author(s):  
Han Li ◽  
Kean Chen ◽  
Bernhard U. Seeber
Keyword(s):  
Road Traffic ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Noise Pollution ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Scale Invariant ◽  
Acoustic Sensor Networks ◽  
Noise Assessment ◽  
Sound Separation

Noise pollution has become a growing concern in public health. The availability of low-cost wireless acoustic sensor networks permits continuous monitoring of noise. However, real acoustic scenes are composed of irrelevant sources (anomalous noise) that overlap with monitored noise, causing biased evaluation and controversy. One classical scene is selected in our study. For road traffic noise assessment, other possible non-traffic noise (e.g., speech, thunder) should be excluded to obtain a reliable evaluation. Because anomalous noise is diverse, occasional, and unpredictable in real-life scenes, removing it from the mixture is a challenge. We explore a fully convolutional time-domain audio separation network (ConvTasNet) for arbitrary sound separation. ConvTasNet is trained by a large dataset, including environmental sounds, speech, and music over 150 hours. After training, the scale-invariant signal-to-distortion ratio (SI-SDR) is improved by 11.40 dB on average for an independent test dataset. ConvTasNet is next applied to anomalous noise separation of traffic noise scenes. We mix traffic noise and anomalous noise at random SNR between -10 dB to 0 dB. Separation is especially effective for salient and long-term anomalous noise, which smooth the overall sound pressure level curve over time. Results emphasize the importance of anomalous noise separation for reliable evaluation.

scholarly journals Detection of Anomalous Noise Events for Real-Time Road-Traffic Noise Mapping: The Dynamap’s project case study

Noise Mapping ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesc Alías ◽  
Rosa Ma Alsina-Pagès ◽  
Ferran Orga ◽  
Joan Claudi Socoró
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Noise Pollution ◽  
Environmental Noise ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Noise Mapping

Abstract Environmental noise is increasing year after year, especially in urban and suburban areas. Besides annoyance, environmental noise also causes harmful health effects on people. The Environmental Noise Directive 2002/49/EC (END) is the main instrument of the European Union to identify and combat noise pollution, followed by the CNOSSOS-EU methodological framework. In compliance with the END legislation, the European Member States are required to publish noise maps and action plans every five years. The emergence of Wireless Acoustic Sensor Networks (WASNs) have changed the paradigm to address the END regulatory requirements, allowing the dynamic ubiquitous measurement of environmental noise pollution. Following the END, the LIFE DYNAMAP project aims to develop a WASN-based low-cost noise mapping system to monitor the acoustic impact of road infrastructures in real time. Those acoustic events unrelated to regular traffic noise should be removed from the equivalent noise level calculations to avoid biasing the noise map generation. This work describes the different approaches developed within the DYNAMAP project to implement an Anomalous Noise Event Detector on the low-cost sensors of the network, considering both synthetic and real-life acoustic data.Moreover, the paper reflects on several open challenges, discussing how to tackle them for the future deployment of WASN-based noise monitoring systems in real-life operating conditions.

scholarly journals Combined Effects of Aircraft, Rail, and Road Traffic Noise on Total Noise Annoyance—A Cross-Sectional Study in Innsbruck

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (18) ◽  
pp. 3504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lechner ◽  
Schnaiter ◽  
Bose-O’Reilly
Keyword(s):  
Road Traffic ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Cumulative Effect ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Exposure Response ◽  
Noise Annoyance ◽  
Total Noise ◽  
Noise Assessment

Noise legislation in Austria does not provide an assessment of the cumulative effect of noise from different sources. The desire of citizens for a total noise assessment is getting stronger. Within the pilot project “Gesamtlärmbetrachtung” (Total Noise Investigation) Innsbruck, data from 1031 face-to-face interviews were correlated with exposure data from road, rail and air traffic noise. The interviews were selected in clusters according to the exposure combinations of these three sources. In addition to exposure-response relationships, it has also been found that the annoyance response to air and rail traffic noise is independent of the background noise from road traffic. The total noise annoyance response shows a cumulative effect in each source considered. From the source specific exposure-response relationships, a total noise assessment model based on the annoyance equivalents model was developed. This model is more suitable than the dominant source model and thus also considerable for legal application.

scholarly journals Effects of Motorcycle Noise on Annoyance—A Cross-Sectional Study in the Alps

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 1580
Author(s):  
Christoph Lechner ◽  
David Schnaiter ◽  
Uwe Siebert ◽  
Stephan Böse-O’Reilly
Keyword(s):  
State Government ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Response Curves ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Exposure Response ◽  
Background Exposure ◽  
Noise Assessment

Motorcycle noise is an increasing noise problem, especially in Alpine valleys with winding roads and low environmental noise. The annoyance response to motorcycle engine noise is extraordinarily high in comparison to other traffic noise and cannot be explained by standard noise assessment curves. Therefore, the Tyrolean state government decided to initiate a multi-purpose study. Exposures were calculated based on sound-measurements taken across the entire district of Reutte in the western part of the State of Tyrol and a telephone survey (n = 545) was conducted with regional participants. The influence of demographic characteristics; sensitivity to noise; attitudes towards motorcycles and background noise on the annoyance was examined using bivariate analyses. In addition; exposure-response curves and their 95% confidence intervals with cut-off points of 60% and 72% for “highly annoyed” were created. The exposure annoyance response curves for motorcycle noise show a shift of more than 30 dB in annoyance reaction compared to other road traffic noise. The annoyance response to motorcycle noise in this Alpine region is concentrated on summer Sundays and Saturdays and is independent of the background exposure caused by other road traffic

State-of-the-Art Prediction and Control of Road Traffic Noise in France

1998 ◽  
Vol 1626 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel C. Bérengier ◽  
Fabienne Anfosso-Lédée
Keyword(s):  
Sound Propagation ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Low Noise ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Road Noise ◽  
The Road ◽  
Road Pavement ◽  
Prediction And Control

Because traffic noise is considered by the French population as the primary environmental nuisance, prediction of road traffic noise and development of efficient noise control techniques is very important. The first step is to analyze the source, the main part of which is due to the contact between tires and the road pavement. Many efforts have been devoted to the assessment of a reliable measurement method, and a classification of road pavements in relation to noise has been established for some years. To abate road traffic noise, special attention has been paid to low-noise pavements. Thus, the modeling of the absorption properties of porous asphalts has been particularly studied in the past 10 years. The second step is to understand the physics of sound propagation outdoors, especially the meteorological effects on the propagation of road traffic noise. Both theoretical and experimental approaches have been undertaken. Finally, the effect of road noise barriers of any shape on the propagation of road noise and their interaction with porous road surfaces have been investigated by using numerical models.

scholarly journals REVIEW ON THE ROAD TRAFFIC NOISE ASSESSMENT

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
PETROVICI ALINA ◽  
TOMOZEI CLAUDIA ◽  
NEDEFF FLORIN ◽  
IRIMIA OANA ◽  
PANAINTE-LEHADUS MIRELA
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Urban Traffic ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Action Plans ◽  
Noise Mapping ◽  
The Road ◽  
On The Road

<p>This paper presents a synthesis of current state of the assessment of road traffic noise in urban areas considering economic, social and legal aspects. Therefore, there were described several prediction methods of the urban traffic noise. These methods are useful in calculating the exposure of the population at noise levels which exceed the permissible limits. Mapping is one of the most common methods used for the assessment of noise. Whether it is industrial, airport, rail or road traffic noise, noise mapping provides accurate data needed later in developing action plans against noise. The road traffic noise assessments are performed periodically, and a representative picture of the noise in the analysed areas is obtained. Then, the action plans can be developed in order to reduce road traffic noise, where it is necessary.</p>

scholarly journals Theoretical Comparison of the Effects of Different Traffic Conditions on Urban Road Traffic Noise

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Maghrour Zefreh ◽  
Adam Torok
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Flow ◽  
Noise Level ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Urban Traffic ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Traffic Lights ◽  
Urban Road ◽  
Traffic Conditions

Road traffic noise is one of the most relevant sources in the environmental noise pollution of the urban areas where dynamics of the traffic flow are much more complicated than uninterrupted traffic flows. It is evident that different traffic conditions would play the role in the urban traffic flow considering the dynamic nature of the traffic flow on one hand and presence of traffic lights, roundabouts, etc. on the other hand. The main aim of the current paper is to investigate the effect of different traffic conditions on urban road traffic noise. To do so, different traffic conditions have been theoretically generated by the Monte Carlo Simulation technique following the distribution of traffic speed in the urban roads. The “ASJ RTN-Model” has been considered as a base road traffic noise prediction model which would deal with different traffic conditions including steady and nonsteady traffic flow that would cover the urban traffic flow conditions properly. Having generated the vehicles speeds in different traffic conditions, the emitted noise (LWA) and subsequently the noise level at receiver (LA) were estimated by “ASJ RTN-Model.” Having estimated LWA and LA for each and every vehicle in each traffic condition and taking the concept of transient noise into account, the single event sound exposure levels (SEL) in different traffic conditions are calculated and compared to each other. The results showed that decelerated traffic flow had the lowest contribution, compared to congestion, accelerated flow, free flow, oversaturated congestion, and undersaturated flow by 16%, 14%, 12%, 12%, and 10%, respectively. Moreover, the distribution of emitted noise and noise level at receiver were compared in different traffic conditions. The results showed that traffic congestion had considerably the maximum peak compared to other traffic conditions which would highlight the importance of the range of generated noise in different traffic conditions.

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