Annoyance 101

1

Annoyance 101 The Basics
Prepared by .. Dan Frazee and Garret Hollarn
2
Noise Annoyance

• Unwanted Sound
• Temporary
• Annoyance is Subjective

3
Variables Affecting Response

• Emotional
• Feelings about Necessity or Preventability
• Judgment of Importance and Value of the Activity
  Producing the Noise
• Activity at the time an Individual Hears the
  Noise
• Attitude about Environment
• General Sensitivity to Noise
• Belief about Effect of Noise on Health
• Feeling of Fear Associated with Noise

4
Variables Affecting Response (Continued)

• Physical
• Type of Neighborhood
• Time of Day
• Season
• Predictability of Noise
• Control over Noise Source
• Length of Time Individual is Exposed to Noise

5
Physical Characteristics of Sound

• Measurement and human perception of Sound
  involves three basic physical characteristics
• Intensity
• Frequency
• Duration

6
Intensity (Loudness)

• Measure of acoustic energy of the sound
  vibrations
• Expressed in terms of sound pressure
• Decibels (dB) are the unit of measurement on the
  Loudness scale

7
Comparative Noise Levels (dB)
8
Frequency

• A measure of the rapidity that sound changes
  occur
• Stated in cycles per second (Hertz)

9
Duration

• The period of time the sound continues to exist.
• Exposure to sound levels of 85 decibels, the
  equivalent of a lawn mower or food blender, may
  cause permanent hearing loss if endured for 8
  hours per day for a prolonged period

10
How We Measure Sounds

• Single Event Energy Metrics
• Cumulative Energy Average Metrics
• Cumulative Time Metrics

11
How We Measure Sounds (Continued)

• Maximum Sound Level (Lmax)
• Sound level Exposure (SEL)
• Equivalent Sound Level (Leq)

• Day Night Average Sound Level (DNL)
• Community Noise Equivalent Level (CNEL)
• 24-Hour Time Above (TA)

12
The Bottom Line

• DNL/CNEL has emerged as a sound and workable tool
  for use in land use planning and in relating
  aircraft noise to community reaction
• FAA selected DNL/CNEL as the cumulative average
  energy metric to be used in airport noise
  exposure studies
• All current airport-initiated noise mitigation
  effort (Residential Insulation) is tied to this
  metric

13
(No Transcript)
14
Next ANAC - May 15

• Rules, Roles and Regulations