A precision sound pressure level measurement system

Abstract

Noise pollution affects human and wildlife. It is in the public interest to reduce noise levels. Measures to be taken to reduce the noise are normally expensive and must be based on facts and reliable measurements of noise. Therefore, sound pressure level measurements are key evidence to determine whether there is a breach of noise limits. The sound pressure measurement method should comply with the metrological principles concerning validation, measurement traceability and estimation of measurement uncertainty as stated in ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, Principles and rules for the structure and drafting of ISO and IEC document. For this reason, a precision sound pressure measurement system has been developed at the National Research Council Canada. The system utilizes the latest advances in digitization and is metrologically transparent, facilitating the evaluation of measurement uncertainties. In this paper, the design and implementation of the system based on IEC 61672-1, Electroacoustics - Sound level meters - Part 1: Specifications is described. The technical challenges, such as truncation, are discussed. Closed-form solutions are obtained for typical sinusoidal sound signals. Experiments were conducted for the validation of the system. The measurement results are presented showing that the discrepancy between theoretical calculations and measurements is only 1.6 ppm.