A field study of the exposure-annoyance relationship of military shooting noise

Abstract

This article reports a field study on noise annoyance from military shooting with small, midsize, and heavy weapons that was carried out among 1002 residents living near eight different training grounds of the Swiss army. The goal of the study was to derive the exposure-annoyance relationship for military shooting noise in communities in the vicinity of average military training grounds. Annoyance was determined in a telephone survey by means of the 5-point verbal and 11-point numerical annoyance scale recommended by the International Commission on Biological Effects of Noise. Exposure was calculated using acoustical source models of weapons and numbers of shots fired, as recorded by the army. Annoyance predictor variables investigated were L(AE), L(CE), L(CE)-L(AE), number of shots above threshold, as well as individual moderators. Exposure-annoyance relationships were modeled by means of linear and logistic regression analyses. The sound exposure level L(E) of shooting noise better explained variations in annoyance than other operational and/or acoustical predictors. Annoyance on the 5-point scale was more closely related to noise exposure than expressed on the 11-point scale. The inclusion of the C-A frequency weighting difference as a second explaining variable, as suggested earlier, did not substantially enhance the predictability of high annoyance.