Predicting Outdoor Sound

This is a practical yet academically rigorous reference for acoustic engineers, especially those working on major projects where noise control is a key issue such as the design and construction of Heathrow Terminal 5.

The second edition of Predicting Outdoor Sound is an up-to-date reference on the propagation of sound close to the ground and its prediction. New content includes comparisons between predictions and data for road traffic, railway and wind turbine noise; descriptions of source characteristics in the HARMONOISE model; propagation over rough seas, parallel low walls, and lattices; outlines of numerical methods; gabion (caged stones) and sonic crystal noise barriers; meteorological effects on noise barrier performance; and the prediction requirements for auralization. The book brings together relevant theories, prediction schemes, and data, thereby providing a basis for determining what model or scheme might be applicable for any situation. It also offers a background on useful analytical approximations and the restrictions, as well as difficulties and limitations associated with engineering prediction schemes. The text should be of considerable interest to researchers in outdoor sound propagation and, more generally, it should provide a comprehensive primer on the topic for lecturers, consultants and students in acoustics and noise control.

Predicting Outdoor Sound provides a scholarly yet practical examination of the phenomena that affect outdoor sound close to the ground and its prediction. It is devoted to bringing together theories and data to give both researchers and practitioners the basis for deciding which model to use in a given situation. The book covers recent advances in theory, new and old empirical schemes, available data and comparisons between theory and data. Detailed case studies of predictions and their uses are presented. There are chapters on ground impedance models and data, methods of measuring ground impedance, ground effects in homogenous atmospheres, sound propagation in refracting and turbulent atmospheres, sound propagation from moving sources, the performance of outdoor noise barriers, the effects of tall vegetation and both numerical and empirical methods for predicting the various influences on outdoor sound. International in its applications, and written by authors who have been key in many of the recent advances, Predicting Outdoor Sound is a definitive reference for the acoustic engineer.

Predicting Outdoor Sound provides a scholarly yet practical examination of the phenomena that affect outdoor sound close to the ground and its prediction. It is devoted to bringing together theories and data to give both researchers and practitioners the basis for deciding which model to use in a given situation. The book covers recent advances in theory, new and old empirical schemes, available data and comparisons between theory and data. Detailed case studies of predictions and their uses are presented. There are chapters on ground impedance models and data, methods of measuring ground impedance, ground effects in homogenous atmospheres, sound propagation in refracting and turbulent atmospheres, sound propagation from moving sources, the performance of outdoor noise barriers, the effects of tall vegetation and both numerical and empirical methods for predicting the various influences on outdoor sound. International in its applications, and written by authors who have been key in many of the recent advances, Predicting Outdoor Sound is a definitive reference for the acoustic engineer.

This is an unparalleled modern handbook reflecting the richly interdisciplinary nature of acoustics edited by an acknowledged master in the field. The handbook reviews the most important areas of the subject, with emphasis on current research. The authors of the various chapters are all experts in their fields. Each chapter is richly illustrated with figures and tables. The latest research and applications are incorporated throughout, including computer recognition and synthesis of speech, physiological acoustics, diagnostic imaging and therapeutic applications and acoustical oceanography. An accompanying CD-ROM contains audio and video files.

As industrial technology advances, man-made noise has increasingly contributed to natural soundscapes. To predict how anthropogenic noise can affect natural environments, engineers build acoustic models over a given terrain; however, many current models are not compatible with common Geographic Information System (GIS) software and become outdated due to software version updates, or are written as proprietary packages unavailable to park management. The goal of this study was to create a true open source outdoor sound propagation model compatible with (but not dependent on) outside GIS software. The model was developed using algorithms from ISO 9613-2, an international standard for attenuation of sound during propagation outdoors. The standard accounts for uneven terrain, atmospheric absorption, screening, wind effects, and ground effects; however, the scope of this thesis is limited to the initial three attenuation factors. Geometric and atmospheric attenuation were directly translatable to a three-dimensional terrain. Additional software was developed in order to translate the two-dimensional screening algorithms for simple terrains to three-dimensional complex terrains. Given sound source inputs and locations over an input Digital Elevation Map, GIS compatible file types of spatially explicit sound pressure level predictions were produced by this model. The model was tested using simple simulated terrains of known ISO 9613-2 cases: one barrier and two barriers. Additionally, the model produced preliminary results using real terrain data and natural gas compressor noise as the sound source. Sound maps were displayed over satellite imagery of the sound pressure level data, and a correlation of visitor acceptability to the sound. The results produced by this work demonstrate a preliminary version of an open-source outdoor sound predictive tool with the capability of mapping visitor experience.