Showing papers on "Annoyance published in 1999"

Demographic and attitudinal factors that modify annoyance from transportation noise

Abstract: The effect of demographic variables (sex, age, education level, occupational status, size of household, homeownership, dependency on the noise source, and use of the noise source) and two attitudinal variables (noise sensitivity and fear of the noise source) on noise annoyance is investigated. It is found that fear and noise sensitivity have a large impact on annoyance (DNL equivalent equal to [at most] 19 and 11 dB, respectively). Demographic factors are much less important. Noise annoyance is not related to gender, but age has an effect (DNL equivalent equal to 5 dB). The effects of the other demographic factors on noise annoyance are (very) small, i.e., the equivalent DNL difference is equal to 1-2 dB, and, in the case of dependency, 3 dB. The results are based on analyses of the original data from various previous field surveys of response to noise from transportation sources (number of cases depending on the variable between 15 000 and 42000).

Personal and social variables as co-determinants of noise annoyance.

Abstract: This paper starts with the fact that noise annoyance is partly due to acoustic factors, partly due to so-called moderating variables, i.e. personal and social aspects of the residents. Noise annoyance is considered to be the (long-term) negative evaluation of living conditions with respect to noise. This evaluation is not simply dependent on past disturbances, but on attitudes and expectations, too. The personal factors influencing the evaluation and described here are: Sensitivity to noise, fear of harm connected with the source, personal evaluation of the source, and coping capacity with respect to noise. The social factors described here are: General (social) evaluation of the source, trust or misfeasance with source authorities, history of noise exposure, and expectations of residents. For most of these variables, data from different community studies are used in order to illustrate the respective moderating effect on annoyance. In addition, some of the moderators are presented as possible tools in order to reduce noise annoyance. It is expected that a significant decrease in a negatively moderating variable is as effective in reducing noise annoyance, as is a significant decrease in noise level.

A theoretical framework for environmental noise annoyance.

Abstract: Noise annoyance is a phenomenon of 'mind and mood'. It is only partly determined by acoustic factors: typical noise metrics (LAeq and the like) allow only the prediction of aggregated annoyance scores (community levels) with moderate degree of precision. Many non-acoustic factors have been identified with varying degrees of association with annoyance. However, the proper identification and understanding of the role of non-acoustical factors can only be achieved on the basis of sound theories about rise and reduction of noise annoyance. This article discusses first the few systematic theories to understand the relative role of acoustic and non-acoustic factors. Then, it presents a theoretical perspective that places a major non-acoustic factor in the center: perceived control. It views noise annoyance as a form of psychological stress: disturbances may tax persons resources, and different people may use different ways of coping to deal with annoyance. The focus on perceived control also highlights that for residents exposed to environmental noise 'noise management at the source' often will be an equally important external stimulus to respond to as 'noise at the source'.

Noise Disturbance from a Developing Airport Perceived Risk or General Annoyance

Abstract: The comparative importance of perceived risk to environmental quality and dispositions to be generally annoyed or sensitive to noise in predicting disturbance from aviation noise was investigated by distributing a mail-back questionnaire to 901 residents in neighborhoods bordering a small developing airport. An Environmental Noise Risk scale, developed by the authors, assessed how individuals appraise the trade-off between economic benefits from airport development and adverse environmental effects. Stepwise multiple regression analysis (N = 358) showed that as hypothesized, disturbance was predicted by assessment of environmental noise risk (β = .60, p < .0001) but not by general annoyance or noise sensitivity. Those disturbed by noise were also more discriminating in their evaluation of other less salient attributes of neighborhoods. Environmental noise risk is discussed as a construct that can contribute to understanding how people evaluate the consequences of a developing noise source.

Environmental odours and somatic complaints

Abstract: Two field studies in two cities in Northrhine-Westfalia were carried out in order to characterize the degree of association between environmental odour-exposure, annoyance, and somatic symptoms. In both studies, odour effects were assessed through personal interviews by means of standardised questionnaires. In the first study, the odour source was a fertilizer plant for mushroom cultivation with particularly offensive odour emissions. The distance from the source was taken to characterize the intensity of odour exposure. 250 subjects were interviewed at close, medium or remote distance from the plant. Apart from an extremely high degree of annoyance, an increasing frequency of somatic symptoms was found with increasing proximity to the odour source. Somatic symptoms were directly linked to odour exposure and additionally mediated by annoyance. In the second study (n = 322), the odour source was a pig rearing facility, and the degree of odour exposure was assessed by measuring the frequency of odour-events by means of systematic field observations. Results showed that the degree of odour-annoyance as well as the frequency of somatic symptoms increased significantly with increasing odour-exposure, although their frequency was reduced relative to the first study, and mediated by annoyance. In both studies, perceived negative health was associated with increased symptom reports, however, results for old age were inconsistent. Response tendencies and biases were controlled. Environmental odours have been shown to be associated with somatic symptoms and, may, thus, be considered as a risk factor for health and wellbeing of exposed populations, especially for vulnerable subjects with perceived negative health.

Preventative medical limits for chronic traffic noise exposure

Abstract: Because of an expert’s report on the medical effects of noise on healthy adults, permissible values for mainly traffic noise have been estimated by the standard of knowledge. If the permissible values are exceeded, then preventative medical action is necessary. Below this value the probability of noise‐induced health hazards is essentially zero. The effect due to noise as a health hazard is, besides the mechanical damage of the inner ear, a psycho‐physiological deregulation which can be either indirectly due to the annoyance or directly caused by stress of the vegatative‐hormonal system. Therefore, different permissible values for annoyance, the stress on the vegetative‐hormonal system, and for the loss of hearing are suggested, for both continuous and maximum noise levels. In addition, the deregulation depends on the time of the acoustic exposure because the sensitivity to noise follows a 24‐h cycle (circadian rhythm). It is therefore necessary to give personal permissible limits for the evening noise and the nocturnal noise.

Traffic Noise in Kuwait: Profiles and Modeling Residents' Perceptions

Abstract: Measurements of traffic noise at the edge of traffic lanes and at distances equivalent to residence locations, and traffic flow variables for nine freeway/arterial/collector roadway locations in Kuwait are presented. The perceived annoyance impact of traffic noise on a sample of 1,182 exposed residents is described. Principal factor analysis, correlation analysis, and stepwise linear/nonlinear regressions are employed to investigate how well perceptions and noise levels correlate. The mean equivalent noise level was strongly and positively correlated with the total traffic volume, the mean travel speed, and roadway class. The mean equivalent noise levels, measured at distances equivalent to where the residents live, also demonstrated positive and significant correlations with sleeping, reading, resting, telephone conversation, and watching TV—the main welfare indicators of residents' annoyance. Investigations mainly focus on likely relationships between exposed residents' annoyance and measured traffic no...

Field study of the annoyance of low-frequency runway sideline noise

Abstract: Noise from aircraft ground operations often reaches residences in the vicinity of airports via grazing incidence paths that attenuate high-frequency noise more than air-to-ground propagation paths, thus increasing the relative low-frequency content of such noise with respect to overflight noise. Outdoor A-weighted noise measurements may not appropriately reflect low-frequency noise levels that can induce potentially annoying secondary emissions inside residences near runways. Contours of low-frequency noise levels were estimated in a residential area adjacent to a busy runway from multi-site measurements of composite maximum spectra of runway sideline noise in the one-third octave bands between 25 and 80 Hz, inclusive. Neighborhood residents were interviewed to determine the prevalence of annoyance attributable to runway sideline noise at frequencies below 100 Hz, and of its audible manifestations inside homes. Survey respondents highly annoyed by rattle and vibration were concentrated in areas with low-frequency sound levels due to aircraft operations in excess of 75 to 80 dB.

How information about the source influences noise annoyance

Abstract: Annoyance following noise exposure can be considered to convey a ‘‘possible loss of fitness signal’’ (PLOF‐signal), indicating that the individual’s Darwinian fitness decreases if she or he continues to stay in that situation. Especially, nonfamiliar conspecifics appearing in the habitat diminish fitness of the inhabitants because they are going to use the same but restricted resources. Therefore, sounds carrying the information that they are manmade are likely to evoke more annoyance than other sounds of equal level and spectral density. In an experiment, subjects were exposed to recorded sounds of ocean surf and party murmur. Both sounds were carefully equalized regarding spectral energy and overall level [Leq(A)=52 dB]. In the ‘‘manmade’’ sound condition, subjects felt significantly more annoyed and were significantly more impaired in a free recall memory test. However, physiological stress indices (potassium/sodium measured in saliva) did not discriminate significantly between the conditions. The resu...

Mitigating the Effects of Military Aircraft Overflights on Recreational Users of Parks

Abstract: : This study was initiated as part of the cooperative US Air Force/National Park Service efforts to understand and effectively manage the potential adverse effects military air crew training can have on the National Parks. Through simultaneous sound data acquisition and Park user interviews, data were collected that provided a basis for determining how military jet overflights can affect visitor experience at a site in White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. Several useful findings resulted from the analysis. First, visitors can distinguish between the concepts of "annoyance" and "interference" produced by aircraft sound. Annoyance is an emotional reaction, while interference is more of an objective judgment. Visitors can find that the sound of aircraft interferes with the natural soundscape, but are not necessarily annoyed. Visitors believe annoyance results if the interference is often or severe enough. Second, visitors tend to be less annoyed by aircraft noise if they remember learning that they could hear or see aircraft while in the Park. This finding shows the importance of informing visitors about possible aircraft overflights - i.e., managing visitor expectations. Finally, aircraft noise is likely to produce less annoyance if aircraft fly over in close succession, rather than widely spaced, one at a time.

Assessment of the effectiveness of aircraft noise regulation.

Abstract: A fundamental goal of aircraft noise regulation is control of the prevalence of noise-induced annoyance in airport communities. A common regulatory strategy is to identify values of long-term, time-weighted average aircraft noise exposure that may not be exceeded in the vicinity of airports without certain consequences. Noise exposure per se is neither the sole cause nor a perfect predictor of the annoyance of aircraft noise, however. Regulatory limitation of noise levels to certain values of favored noise metrics may therefore provide the appearance, rather than the substance, of a solution to problems of community reaction to aircraft noise. Response bias, as identified by Green and Fidell (1991), is a factor that exerts about as much influence on the observed prevalence of annoyance in communities as cumulative noise exposure. The importance of formal consideration of response bias in assessments of the adequacy of regulatory enforcement levels is addressed.

Measuring retrospective annoyance in field studies: Prerequisites, procedures, and problems

Abstract: The definition and measurement of annoyance varies between studies. This paper is concerned mainly with measurement topics, e.g., graphical versus magnitude estimations or verbal scales; the effect of mentioning frames of reference with respect to (a) exposure time, (b) exposure area, or (c) range of possible degrees of annoyance/exposure. With verbal response scales, the number of response steps varies between 2 and 7; some studies simply provide for categorical judgments, others provide for nearly equidistant verbal steps—in order to allow for parametric treatments of data. In this context, an international study is reported which intended to gain comparable response scales for different languages. The decision criteria used for selecting 5 steps on the total range between the lowest and the highest possible degree of annoyance are discussed, and the use of certain verbal modifiers in English, German, and French are proposed. Together with instructions for mentioning the frames of reference, these modifiers should be able to get comparable annoyance scores in field studies.

Aircraft noise in recreational areas: a quasi-experimental field study on individual annoyance responses and dose--response relationships

Abstract: A quasi-experimental field study was conducted to investigate aircraft-noise-induced annoyance in outdoor recreational areas. This study, which is part of a larger project that also includes a social survey, was conducted near Fornebu Airport in Oslo, Norway. The aim of the study was to investigate annoyance due to aircraft noise in an outdoor setting under partially controlled conditions. Results are presented for exposure--annoyance relationships, acceptability judgments, and relationhips between immediate annoyance responses to overflights and total annoyance over a longer period.

An interdisciplinary study on railway and road traffic noise: Annoyance differences

Abstract: An interdisciplinary study was made to compare the annoyance responses to railway noise and to road traffic noise. Acoustical measurements were taken in eight areas to assess the noise levels caused by railway and road traffic noise. Road traffic noise was predominant in four of the eight areas and railway noise in the other four areas. A total of 1600 residents were interviewed. The data allow the individuals’ annoyance responses to be related to the individual noise levels for each of the two sources. Some preliminary results of the not yet completed study with regard to the relative annoyance by the two sources are described. The general annoyance (24 h, by day and at night) is less for railway than for road traffic noise at equal noise levels. Also, the disturbances at night attributed to railway noise are less than those attributed to road traffic noise. In the daytime, the difference in the disturbance between railway and road traffic noise depends on the disturbance aspect considered: With regard t...

Comments on “A field survey on the annoyance caused by sounds from large firearms and road traffic” [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 104, 2890–2902 (1998)]

Abstract: Buchta and Vos [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 104, 2890–2902 (1998)] have recently analyzed one set of blast-sound attitudinal survey data. From this survey, they conclude that annoyance increases less rapidly with level for high-energy impulsive sounds than it does for conventional sounds like road traffic noise, a result that is at odds with a significant number of research results. This paper discusses the analysis by Buchta and Vos and points to several areas in their analysis that might cause their results to depart from the results found by others. Specifically, it appears that the communities in their study exhibit abnormally high levels of annoyance to noise. Also, the great majority of the data that they analyze are below the threshold at which people in the community will notice these sounds. These factors may account for the results found.

Response to “Comments on ‘A field survey on the annoyance caused by sounds from large firearms and road traffic’ ” [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 106, 1594–1597 (1999)]

Abstract: Percentages of “highly annoyed” respondents were determined by utilizing the more commonly adopted cutoff point at 72% instead of at 63% of the rating scales. The results showed that (1) the community response to the road-traffic sounds was not different from that obtained in many other field surveys, and (2) the overall adjustment to the C-weighted day–night level of the artillery sounds was equal to the previously derived adjustment. The estimated optimal parameter values in Schomer’s new rating procedure for high-energy impulsive sounds were hardly different from the previously obtained values. It was shown that analyses in which (inaudible or faintly audible) single events with relatively low CSEL values were excluded yielded essentially the same results as reported earlier.

The current state of quantifying receptor annoyance related to low frequency noise in the environment

Abstract: Environmental noise from energy industry facilities in Alberta is regulated by the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB), as described in the Noise Control Directive, ID 99-8. ID 99-8 is the fourth edition of a comprehensive policy and guide, which has adopted A-weighted energy equivalent sound levels (L A eq) as the measurement system with sound pressure level criterion for a receptor location. With the receptor being some distance from the energy industry noise source, the high and mid-frequency components can dissipate or be absorbed by air and ground conditions, leaving mostly low frequency noise. Consequently, A-weighted measurements do not reflect the full annoyance potential of the remaining industrial noise. This paper examines the current state of research, begun by the EUB in 1995, to quantify potential receptor annoyance and meet the current noise control directive's technical approach.

Limits of utility of dosage‐response analysis for predicting the Prevalence of annoyance

Abstract: Dose‐response analyses from field studies are essential parts of the information necessary for establishing limits for tolerable noise immissions within the sites (e.g., residential areas with certain immissions) and persons actually studied. But they have their limits when (1) dose‐response data are compared between independent studies, (2) annoyance data are extrapolated to other sites, other immission types, levels resp. numbers of noise events, other people, or future times, and (3) the effect of noise abatement programs is predicted. These limitations are presented, using empirical data for illustration purposes. The discussion concentrates (a) on methodological aspects of measuring annoyance, (b) methodological aspects of converting continuous annoyance scales to the percentage of highly annoyed people, and (c) on the contribution of nonacoustic factors to annoyance and to empirical dose‐response relationships. It is concluded that dose‐response analyses must not be discarded, but their limited util...

Systems/persons correlation modeling. application to noise/annoyance analysis

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to design a generic model of the correlation between aircrafts’noises and riparian persons’annoyance. This study is in keeping with Artific ial Intelligence, and it focuses on the study of the relations between systems and unvol untary users. Beyond a mere “noise level” “annoyance” function, we aim at defining more precisely the causal relations between noise characteristics and the actual annoyance. Hence, we work both on annoyance cognitive models and on the general question of the correlation between artificial systems and human beings. In this paper, our contribution consists in the description of the first phase of the project: the experimental data coll ection program and the the theoretical tools.

An Interdisciplinary Study on Railway and Road Traffic Noise: Acoustical Results

Abstract: Former studies have discovered differences in annoyance reactions determined by questionnaire between railway and road traffic noise. The night time disturbance reactions caused by road traffic noise showed greater scores at the same noise levels than those caused by railway noise. Therefore an interdisciplinary study examining questioned annoyance reactions (day and night time reactions) and also measuring sleep disturbance was conducted. In eight areas—four areas with predominant road traffic noise and four areas with predominant railway noise—acoustical, psychological, and physiological data were gathered. Acoustical indices for both sources were calculated for all subjects using German standards. For subjects taking part in the physiological examination, acoustical measurements indoor and outdoor the bedroom have beeen taken in 10 nights per area. The physiological measurements of sleep disturbance have been taken by actimetry. The acoustical measurements show typical differences between railway and r...

Measurements of noise annoyance: Decisions on appropriate evaluation procedures in field and laboratory settings

Abstract: The complicated context of noises that are annoying has to be taken into account to measure annoyance adequately. The measurement has to provide insight information improving the understanding of the complex processes causing the annoyance judgments built up in ranking results, e.g., based on categorical judgments. Another problem will be defined by asking which procedure is more or less sufficient to solve the problems of annoyance measurements or should those measurements be carried out in studies combining both field and laboratory. There is the necessity of a consensus that studies on annoyance have to include the context of activities or interference of activities. Two laboratory studies based on a field study evaluating noise from different sources are carried out in different countries. The results point out the context sensitivity of any judgment as well as the measurement procedure guarantee a detailed characterizing of the noises. The subjective judgments correlate with those parameters relevant...

Trading level for number of aircraft immissions: A full‐factorial laboratory design

Abstract: To what extent can the number of overflights be increased without enhancing annoyance, if airplanes become softer? An original B737 take‐off sound (A‐weighted sound‐pressure level: Lmax=76 dB) was either reduced or amplified by 4.8 dB. In a 3×3 factorial design, nine groups of ten subjects were exposed for 27 min to 3, 9, or 27 copies of one of these three sounds. Regarding energy equivalence defined by LeqA=const, a 4.8‐dB sound‐pressure reduction compensated for three times the number of the higher level, achieving constant Leq levels in the diagonals of the design. After noise exposure, cardiovascular responses and the subject ratings of loudness, annoyance, and quality of an imagined living area with comparable noise load were analyzed statistically. Comparison of the equal‐energy conditions revealed no difference regarding heart rate and blood pressure, but subjective loudness increased with both level and number, and 27 soft aircraft were rated extremely loud. However, annoyance decreased, when 3 lo...

Validation of a new procedure for rating shooting sounds with the help of field survey data

Abstract: In previous laboratory studies it was shown that an almost perfect prediction of the annoyance caused by shooting sounds was obtained on the basis of the outdoor A‐weighted and C‐weighted sound exposure levels (ASEL and CSEL; LAE and LCE). For single events, the rating sound level, Lr, is given by Lr=LAE+β(LCE−LAE)(LAE−α)+12 dB. The second term β(LCE−LAE)(LAE−α) implies (1) that the annoyance is dependent also on the ‘‘heaviness’’ of the sound (characterized by LCE−LAE), and (2) that the additional annoyance (β>0) increases with ASEL for LAE>α dB, and decreases with ASEL for LAE<α dB. In the present study, the procedure for rating shooting sounds, as described above, was validated with the help of data from a German field survey on the annoyance caused by artillery and road‐traffic sounds: α and β were determined for which Lr for shooting sound would, overall, numerically correspond to the A‐weighted day–night level of equally annoying road‐traffic sound. For all relevant impulsive sources, the required A...

Noise annoyance from high-speed trains in germany

Abstract: The introduction of the new high-speed trains ("InterCityExpress, ICE") in Germany with a maximum speed of >= 250 km/h has led to new annoyance problems. Many of the inhabitants in the residential areas alongside the new planned lines are in fear of unknown noise effects from the ICE-trains. In consequence, numerous objections against the construction of new ICE-lines are raised and the planning procedures are delayed. In addition, in the administration there are no clear rules and great uncertainties on how to handle the new noise problems. This holds particularly for the so called "railway-bonus" which has been fixed in Germany to favor the railway traffic at a general level reduction of 5dB in comparison to the road traffic. Many people argue against the justification for this bonus for high speed-trains: the unusually high speeds could cause sudden noise level increases which could then result in so-called "shock-effects"; another frequency spectrum due to the aerodynamic effects could lead to a higher degree of noise annoyance (hissing, roaring) etc. For the covering abstract see IRRD E104312.