Noise Mapping: Lausitzer Platz

Abstract

The central goal of TP 1000 "Stadt und Umland" of the DLR Project VMo4Orte is to identify effective measures of transforming urban traffic infrastructures in order to increase the quality of life of the local population. This also concerns the exposure of the inhabitants to road-traffic noise pollution. Thus, one important milestone in the pursuit of the project goals is to evaluate the impact of certain measures, such as road blocks and speed limits, on the road-noise perceived by the population during a representative day. In order to achieve this goal, we have developed a tool for the creation of time-resolved noise maps in arbitrary urban environments. This tool works in conjunction with a microscopic traffic simulation and is able to predict the sound-pressure level within the complete urban domain with a high temporal and spatial resolution. In order to quantify the impact of local road-traffic measures on the noise pollution in urban environments two different traffic scenarios have been considered within a region around the Lausitzer Platz in Berlin. The traffic rules and speed limits in the base scenario correspond to the actual rules present within that region, while in the trafficcalmed scenario the Heinrichplatz is closed, except for public transport, and also speed limits and diagonal road-blocks are in place at certain locations. Our tool is especially well suited for comparing time-resolved noise maps of different traffic scenarios inside a given urban environment, since it allows to reuse the rays generated in the ray-tracing phase for arbitrary many traffic scenarios. Finally, we present the day-evening-night sound-pressure level LDEN obtained for the two scenarios and we evaluate the difference between the two and draw some conclusions on the effectiveness of the applied measures.