Comparing sound emergence and sound pressure level as predictors of short-term annoyance from wind turbine noise

Guillaume Dutilleux,Jean Fosset

doi:10.1051/aacus/2020009

Guillaume Dutilleux, Jean Fosset

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1051/aacus/2020009

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Abstract

While most of the countries over the world rely on sound-pressure-level-based limit values to regulate wind energy development, sound emergence as defined in ISO 1996-1 is used in a few national legislations but also in international guidelines. There is however no published evidence that sound emergence is a relevant noise descriptor for that kind of source, namely that there is a correlation between this metric and perception or annoyance. A listening test was carried out to evaluate the relative merits of sound pressure level and sound emergence as predictors of annoyance from wind turbine noise. The test samples consisted of 45 30-s wind turbine sounds at three different A-weighted sound pressure levels and five different signal-to-noise ratios. Thirty two persons rated the test samples according to the ISO 15666 standard scale in a dry room equipped with loudspeakers. The results indicate that short term annoyance is better predicted by A-weighted sound pressure levels than by sound emergence. It is also observed that sound emergence is a poor predictor of the audibility of wind turbine sounds.

Highlights

In the past decades, wind power experienced a sustained growth all over the World. 54.2 GW of onshore wind capacity was added globally in 2019 taking cumulative onshore wind beyond 600 GW [1]
The main finding of our study is that, for the set of synthetic soundscapes proposed in this listening test and for a specific definition of sound emergence, the A-weighted sound pressure level is a better predictor of short-term annoyance due to wind turbine sound than sound emergence
From recordings of wind turbine sounds and residual sounds, we constructed a set of synthetic soundscapes where the control parameters are the sound pressure level and sound emergence

Summary

Introduction

Wind power experienced a sustained growth all over the World. 54.2 GW of onshore wind capacity was added globally in 2019 taking cumulative onshore wind beyond 600 GW [1]. With a growth rate above 10% per year between 2009 and 2019, wind power is close to becoming the most important power source in Europe. Since wind power is identified as one of the major tools in the transition toward a carbon-free energy mix the pressure to further increase the installed power is not likely to recede in the near future. Due to the pressure to increase the installed capacity, over time one can expect that the density of wind farms per unit area will be increased and that the new wind farm projects will be located closer to populations. The risk of conflicts with the neighborhood will be increased It is worth considering the relevance of the metric used for setting legal noise limits

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