Battling Against Noise Pollution for a Quieter Europe
The first comprehensive methodology to measure and map noise patterns will help the European Union lay down a common approach to avoiding, preventing and reducing harmful noise that currently affects a quarter of Europe’s population.
(PRWEB) May 14, 2005 -- This new technique to calculate and predict noise
propagation from different sources was developed and successfully validated by
the IST programme-funded project HARMONOISE that ended in January 2005. Its work
is being continued in the IMAGINE project under the European Commission’s
Scientific Support to Policies initiative, with the methodology likely to be
adopted across the European Union as the standard for drawing up noise maps that
will allow regulators to take effective action.
“HARMONOISE is
contributing to the policy goals of the EU in the fight against noise pollution
by developing a harmonised and innovative approach to predicting environmental
noise levels,” explains Margreet Beuving, a senior researcher on the project at
AEA Technology Rail in The Netherlands.
Reaching consensus
Under the
Directive on the Assessment and Management of Environmental Noise that was
approved in 2002, all EU Member States will have to produce strategic noise maps
every five years detailing noise pollution from major roads, railways, airports
and industrial sites near urban areas. For the first maps due in 2007 national
and regional authorities will be able to use their own methods to calculate
noise propagation, but by 2012 they will have to use a harmonised method to
permit accurate comparisons to draw up more effective noise reduction policies
at European, national and regional levels.
HARMONOISE and the follow-up
IMAGINE project are contributing to that standard.
“At present every
state has its own calculation methods; noise maps made in Germany cannot be
compared to those in Holland, for example, because different methods are used to
measure propagation and noise sources,” Beuving notes. “For the Directive to be
applied a standardised method is needed because if you can’t compare results
from different countries you can’t draw up an EU-wide noise pollution map and
can’t effectively develop an EU-wide policy to specify what action needs to be
taken.”
Unlike traditional noise prediction methods that depend on
linking the propagation of noise to its source and having different models for
the propagation depending on the type of source, the HARMONOISE approach can be
used to measure noise propagation independently from the source, as it uses one
generic propagation model for all different types of noise. The results are
expressed in new European noise level indicators, known as Lden and Lnight, that
describe environmental noise during the day and night respectively. HARMONOISE’s
approach consisted of describing the noise generation and propagation as
accurately as possible and then derive a flexible calculation method, that can
be used both for noise assessment and for noise mapping. The method may take
into account weather patterns in a particular area, permitting predictions about
how far sound will travel in colder night air or warmer daytime air or even at
different times of year. It can be used for either highly accurate predictions –
to within two decibels – or for broader estimates over a large area, thereby
creating a generic noise propagation model.
Helping policymakers
decide
“There are many advantages to being able to use the same propagation
model for different sources, although the principal benefit is that it allows
you to describe the source separately, calculate how the sound spreads and
predict what source mitigation actions will have what effects,” Beuving says.
“In doing so it allows policymakers to carry out cost-benefit analyses to
determine the best course of action.”
Changing the surface on a stretch
of road, for example, could either increase or decrease tire noise depending on
the circumstances, while fitting freight trains with composite brake blocks
instead of cast-iron ones will cut rolling noise.
“Traditionally noise
has been dealt with by building sound barriers but they are costly and not very
attractive, so now the focus is turning toward tackling the noise at source,”
Beuving explains.
While HARMONOISE tested the calculation methodology
that predicts the sound levels emanating from sources of road and rail noises in
validation trials based on French, German and Italian data, the IMAGINE project
will do the same in areas located near industrial sites and airports. It is also
taking a more practical approach, developing guidelines for data collection
aimed at allowing European Member States to easily implement the methods.
According to Beuving, the European Commission received HARMONOISE’s
results “very positively” and is likely to adopt the methodology as the standard
for noise mapping. From then on the more than one hundred million people across
Europe who suffer from noise pollution can expect to lead quieter lives,
reducing the annual cost to the EU (estimated at between €13 and €38 billion)
from lost productivity, accidents and health problems caused by lack of sleep
and concentration.
Please mention IST results as the source of this story
and, if publishing online, please hyperlink to: http://istresults.cordis.lu/
Contact: Tara Morris,
+32-2-2861985, e-mail protected from spam bots
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/5/prweb239793.htm