COMMUNITY NOISE ANNOYANCE - IMPORTANCE OF NOISE-LEVELS AND THE NUMBER OF NOISE EVENTS

Two studies have been performed to evaluate the influence of maximum noise levels and the number of events on the annoyance reaction. The first study was performed in 18 different areas in five European countries and the second study in the city of Gothenburg in 14 different areas. The results showed that the equal energy related index did not describe the reaction between noise and the extent of annoyance in an exposed population in an optimal manner. When the number of noise events and the maximum noise levels were analyzed separately, it was found that an increase in the number of noise events led to an increase in the extent of annoyance up to a breakpoint, after which a further increase in the number of events had no effects on the reaction. The maximum noise level influenced the extent of annoyance independently from the number of noise events in the way that an increase in the maximum noise level from the most noisy event led to an increase in the extent of annoyance. It was also found that the number of heavy vehiches was a good descriptor for the number of noise events in road traffic noise. © 1991.