Comparative study on civil aircraft noise metrics as annoyance estimators for interoperability between other aircraft noise metrics

Abstract

In Korea, the national noise evaluation system for transportation noise was divided into two kinds of noise metrics: WECPNL (weighted equivalent continuous perceived noise level) for aircraft noise and LAeq for other noises. For administrative and political application of these metrics, a trade-off between them must be maintained. Traditionally, conversion between noise metrics has included correlations between the two metrics based on measured physical quantity. However, conversion between two noise metrics should consider the subjective or emotional aspects of people exposed to noise. In the present study, a field study was conducted in 11 sites in the vicinity of Gimpo airport to propose a rational method to convert Korean WECPNL into DENL (day-evening-night average sound level). Annoyance models for aircraft noise in terms of Korean WECPNL and DENL were established by linear regression analyses for 382 useful data. CBA (conversion based on noise annoyance) was proposed by using the two annoyance models. The validity of the proposed equivalent annoyance method was demonstrated by comparing among dose-response relationships in terms of measured DENL, DENL estimated by the CBA, and DENL estimated by the three empirical relations between WECPNL and DENL.