Geo-ecological monitoring of highways and surrounding areas

The experimental and theoretical results of studying of spatial and temporal characteristics of infrasonic fields produced by vehicular traffic along high-speed roads are given. At present, the population is protected against acoustic noise by different screens. Such screens can contain resonant absorbers, can have irregular edges or other constructive features providing the protection from the air noise. However, the noise propagating in air is not the main factor of the environmental pollution near the highways. The main part of energy, about 70%, penetrates into the ground. The experiments were performed inside dwelling territory in Moscow and at the Siberian testing territory. The recordings show that the seismic noise spectrum looks as a white noise containing two outbursts in the range of 0.5-1.0 Hz and 7,5-8.7 Hz. The second range was proved to be correspond to the local resonant geological structure in the testing area. In other cases, the observed resonance can be connected with the highway. construction. These waves generated by traffic propagate along the ground and cause the vibration of buildings the eigen frequencies of which lye usually in the same frequency range. This investigation shows that the main infrasonic impact on people in buildings is produced by seismic waves. The data on noise and vibration level produced by Moscow subway are presented as well. The theoretical explanation of the observed phenomena is given.