Impact of noise source and acoustical metric on noise annoyance due to nighttime traffic

Abstract

Since there is a lack of comparable exposure-response relationships between traffic noise and annoyance, we explored the effect of different traffic noise sources assessed by precise measurements of noise parameters in the field. We compared the data of a current study on road traffic noise (N = 40) with those of two earlier studies on railway (N = 33) and aircraft noise (N = 64). Participants rated their annoyance due to nighttime traffic noise exposure on the five-point ICBEN scale. The acoustic measurements were undertaken inside the bedroom. A generalized estimating equation model concerning the energy equivalent sound pressure level revealed that road traffic noise was more likely to induce annoyance than air traffic noise (p = .001). A second model adjusting for the number of traffic noise events indicated that railway noise was more annoying than air traffic (p = .032). The present study emphasizes that annoyance varies in both the noise source and the acoustical metric. This might be explained by different acoustical properties of traffic modes and bydifferent temporal patterns of noise distribution throughout the night.