Additional measures for assessing aircraft noise impact on civil aviation communities and sleep disturbance prediction
Investigation into prolonged (one-year) exposure and resulting nuisance and sleep disturbance
Residents living near airports experience exposure to aircraft noise, and this ‘noise exposure’ is calculated to predict the extent of severe annoyance or sleep disturbance. Since 2004, the noise exposure from passing aircraft has been quantified using two European measures: Lden and Lnight.
Residents question whether these measures truly capture their experiences of severe annoyance and sleep disturbance caused by aircraft noise, feeling that they do not adequately account for sound peaks. To address this concern, RIVM explored whether three additional sound measures could provide a more accurate representation of residents’ perceived nuisance and sleep disturbance.
The research suggests that incorporating three additional sound measures into the calculation can slightly improve the precision of noise exposure representation. Combining Lden and Lnight with these additional measures results in findings that align somewhat better with residents’ reported experiences of nuisance and sleep disturbance. However, it is important to note that the execution of these calculations is intricate and labour-intensive. This complexity arises due to the need for challenging statistical comparisons and more extensive sound data to establish the relationship with nuisance and sleep disturbance. It needs to be weighed up whether the more precise representations outweigh those which are difficult to implement and interpret.
The current approach, utilising only Lden and Lnight, appears to be preferable for predicting the effects of prolonged (annual average) exposure to aircraft noise.
Lden provides an average value for sound exposure at a specific point over 24 hours (daytime, evening, and night, averaged over a year) Lnight indicates the sound exposure during the night (between 23:00 and 7:00, averaged over a year). One of the additional indicators measures the number of aircraft flying overhead that produce sound exceeding specific decibel levels, such as 65, 75 or 80 (NAx). The second indicator measures how long aircraft exceed a certain sound level (TAx). The third is the traditional Dutch unit, the Kosten unit (Ke, named after its creator, Kosten).
These sound data are linked to information from residents obtained from the 2020 Health Monitor, detailing their experiences of annoyance and sleep disturbance due to aircraft noise. The study investigates differences between sound indicators for five primarily civil airports in RIVM-rapport 2023-0332 the Netherlands: Schiphol, Rotterdam, Maastricht/Geilenkirchen, Eindhoven and Groningen.
This study was caried out for the Programme-Based Approach to Measuring Aircraft Noise (Programmatische Aanpak Meten
Vliegtuiggeluid, PAMV). Within the PAMV framework daily experiences of annoyance is also studied. RIVM is exploring this through a separate Citizen Science project focused on aircraft noise.
The PAMV was carried out on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.
Aircraft noise modelling for airport arrivals, a large-scale validation study, 2024
Aircraft noise and public health the evidence is loud and clear, 2016
by the Aviation Environment Federation
A good overview of aircraft noise and health, with a focus on the UK
Environmental noise guidelines for the European Region 2018
by the World Health Organisation (WHO)
A major piece of work by WHO. Although focusing on Europe, WHO sees this report as being relevant to the rest of the world as well.
A plain person’s guide to the WHO report
An easy-to-read guide compiled by HACAN
Guidelines For Community Noise
This WHO document on the Guidelines for Community Noise is the outcome of the WHO- expert task force meeting held in London, United Kingdom, in April 1999. It bases on the document entitled “Community Noise” that was prepared for the World Health Organization and published in 1995 by the Stockholm University and Karolinska Institute.
About 25 years ago there was already a health warning about low-frequency (airplane) noise. Noted and then forgotten… now back on the agenda!
European Aviation Environmental Report 2022
by EASA
Looks at the historic and future scenarios of air traffic and its associated noise and emissions
Noise country fact sheets 2021
from the European Environment Agency (EEA)
These country fact sheets summarise information on noise pollution for selected EEA member countries. The fact sheets are based on the latest official noise data reported every five years by EEA member countries under the Environmental Noise Directive (END).
NORAH Study (Noise-Related Annoyance, Cognition, and Health), 2016
by Dirk Schreckenberg
A major study from Germany
commissioned by the European Commission
The Phenomena Study has provided a series of policy recommendations to reduce the health burden in the EU of environmental noise from roads, railways, and aviation by 20–50 percent by 2030
Survey of Noise Attitudes 2014: Aircraft Noise and Sleep Disturbance
by Civil Aviation Authority
Survey of Noise Attitudes 2014: Technical Report
by Civil Aviation Authority
Two important reports from the UK Civil Aviation Authority assessing the levels at which people get annoyed by aircraft noise, not just at night but also during the day. The findings changed UK policy. Previously the point at which it was officially recognised people started to get annoyed by aircraft noise during the day was 57dBLAeq (i.e. 57 decibels average out over a 16 hour data). Work from these studies showed that people can get annoyed at much lower levels, certainly as low as 51dBLAeq, and probably even lower.