Geographic information in noise and vibration management solutions

Abstract

Environmental noise and vibration management is important in enabling businesses such as construction sites, mines, airports, etc. to operate within legal limits. Increasingly, businesses understand the value of communicating impact with communities and other stakeholders. Management includes planning and control of noise and vibration levels around the site and informing stakeholders of actions to be taken. Planning is normally based around calculation software while control often must rely on monitoring. Now, real-time measured data can link with calculation models to provide automatically updated noise maps giving businesses quick feedback to help optimise their actions whilst ensuring compliance with limits. Geographic information is used in many aspects of environmental noise and vibration management solutions. Geographical data such as from AutoCAD, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and aerial photographs are becoming more widespread and cheaper and new solutions are appearing on the market. Geo-referencing is also central for the interaction between measurements, noise calculations and sensitive receptors. This paper presents the use of geographic information in environmental noise and vibration management solutions including the use of web-based GIS services to help businesses manage their noise and vibration impact. Examples of the use of GIS solutions to directly engage with communities will be presented.