Noise pollution

About: Noise pollution is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4455 publications have been published within this topic receiving 67192 citations.

Traffic noise and traffic light control

Abstract: An optimal control problem of traffic light duration is considered. The traffic noise level is introduced as a state variable in a dynamical optimization problem. A closed loop control system is designed which influences the green duration of the lights according to the equivalent noise level. Real time considerations lead to sub-optimal control implementation. This control policy decreases the noise levels at intensive traffic intersections. The traffic lights adapt their duration according to the noise pollution. Simulation and experimental results are discussed.

A fuzzy expert system for noise-induced sleep disturbance

Abstract: In this paper, an attempt has been made to develop a fuzzy expert system for predicting the effects of sleep disturbance by noise on humans as a function of noise level, age, and duration of its occurrence. The modelling technique is based on the concept of fuzzy logic, which offers a convenient way of representing the relationships between the inputs and outputs of a system in the form of IF-THEN rules. It has been established on the basis of findings of various researchers that the effect of noise on sleep disturbance depends to a large extent on age. The middle-aged people have more probability of sleep disruption than the young people at the same noise levels. However, very little difference is found in sleep disturbance due to noise between young and old people. In addition, the duration of occurrence of noise is an important factor in determining the sleep disturbance over the limited range from few seconds to few minutes. Finally, we have compared our model results with some of the findings of researchers reported in International Journals.

Performance of noise indices in air-conditioned landscaped office buildings

Abstract: Noise measurements and a questionnaire survey were carried out in air-conditioned landscaped offices in the present study in an attempt to find out what existing noise index gives the best correlation with the auditory sensation feeling of office workers. Results from statistical analyses show that the Equivalent Sound Pressure Level is the best among the 14 commonly used noise indices for this purpose. It is also found that the less commonly used Zwicker’s loudness level performs better than the commonly adopted Noise Criterion curves and Noise Rating curves in predicting auditory sensation of office workers in air-conditioned landscaped offices. The performance of the 14 noise indices in predicting auditory comfort are compared.

A fuzzy rule based framework for noise annoyance modeling.

Abstract: Predicting the effect of noise on individual people and small groups is an extremely difficult task due to the influence of a multitude of factors that vary from person to person and from context to context. Moreover, noise annoyance is inherently a vague concept. That is why, in this paper, it is argued that noise annoyance models should identify a fuzzy set of possible effects rather than seek a very accurate crisp prediction. Fuzzy rule based models seem ideal candidates for this task. This paper provides the theoretical background for building these models. Existing empirical knowledge is used to extract a few typical rules that allow making the model more specific for small groups of individuals. The resulting model is tested on two large-scale social surveys augmented with exposure simulations. The testing demonstrates how this new way of thinking about noise effect modeling can be used in practice both in management support as a "noise annoyance adviser" and in social science for testing hypotheses such as the effect of noise sensitivity or the degree of urbanization.